Awale game rules

The awele (or awale) is a one of the african games of "sowing".

The rules of the game of Oware are numerous and vary according to country or ethnicity. Here is a fairly common rule. For more explanation you can consult the Wikipedia provides links to other websites dedicated to awele or to sites where you can practice online.

Handcarved boards made of redwood or ebony wood are available at our store Africouleur with their seeds. You can also contact us by phone or by mail to check availability and prices.

Purpose of the awale game

The player's goal is to take as many seeds as possible. Seeds don't belong to anybody, and are in turn manipulated by both players.

Initial position

The players put 4 seeds in each box. The board is set between the two players in an horizontal direction. The row nearest each player is his territory.

Playing the awale game

Players take turn one after ech other.

The player chooses a non-empty box of his camp, takes all the seeds in his hand and distributes them one per box at a time in the anticlockwise direction.

Thus we can lay seeds in boxes in the opponent's side and even back into one's own camp.
However, if the number of seeds brings the player back to the departure case after a full rotation (over 11 balls), then he jumps this box throwing no seed inside and continues his distribution in the following boxes.

It can also happen, rarely, that the player takes more than two rounds with his seeds (if over 22), then he jumps again its starting box.

The requirement of "Feeding" one's opponent

When a player has no seeds in his camp, his opponent has to play a move which brings him in at least one.

Furthermore, it is forbidden to play a move which removes all the seeds of the opposite camp. If a player makes such a blow or if a player is in position to have such a shot to play, then the shot is played but no decision is made.

The seeds catches

The player takes the seeds when the last box where he puts a seed:
- is a box in the opposing camp.
- contains 2 or 3 seeds in the new spot (it contained 1 or 2 seeds before).

The player then takes the seeds of this box (2 or 3), and also the seeds of the previous box if it meets the same conditions: namely, being a box of the opponent side and containing 2 or 3 seeds. He continues to take the seeds from previous cases if they meet those conditions. Once the box stop responding to the conditions, (it is in his own camp or it does not contain 2 or 3 seeds), then the taking stops.

End of the awale game

The game stops :
- when a player has no seeds in his camp while it is for him to play. In this case, his opponent wins all the remaining seeds. It's the end, the dreaded "famine".
- when there is not enough seeds to take a decision (in practice 2 or 3). Each player gets the remaining seeds or his camp. It's the end "by indetermination".

Earnings

The player who made the most seeds wins.

The strategy is the basic constitution of attics where the player accumulates a large number of seeds. Only these barns are relatively stable over time in a game in perpetual motion.

Elements of strategy in the game of sowing

Strategy to adopt in the early part of an awale game

It is better to altern filled and empty boxes (to avoid multiple opponents takes) => play boxes or odd pairs, preferably from right to left. Indeed the right boxes ("high boxes") threaten the first side and will be the future of media lofts, as opposed to boxes left at risk ( "low huts").

We must quickly choose the box where we will build our attic.

Do not fear enemy takes, if you achieve some takes too, or an advantageous position.

Strategy at mid-game

There are 3 ways to counter a direct threat, not to mention the creation of counter measures:
- remove seeds from box threatened,
- increasing their number to 3, thus offsetting the potential threat of being taken,
- increasing from one seed the threatening box.

Field of activity:

Attic (consisting of more than 11 seeds) is effective only within these limits and if the player can take in the box where the last seed falls. It achieves a gain related to the effort of its constitution if it can take 5 or 6 seed is 2 or 3 cases, they must contain 0 or 1 seed at the beginning of the player's move and not 1 or 2 as in the boxes of direct takes. The player also needs to be wary of being taken back, many potential targets being created when an attic is distributed.

Being th first to play is more of a nuisance than a benefit.

The "mobility" of a player is his ability, expressed in number of shots, to play without having to play what bothers him.

In the middle of the game, and more at the end of the game, the player with the most seeds generally has the advantage of "potential", ie more flexibility (more blows and mobility ;) and more initiative in the formation of threats.

End of game strategy

(When only 10 to 12 seeds remain...)

The leading player has two possible lines of play:

- winning the remaining seeds (if it is only 5 or 6 maximum) by "starving" his opponent, which means a maximum of 5 seeds in A, 4 B, 3 C, 2 D and 1 in E.

- create a series of traps to win little by little seeds;

Ex: traps "2-1" or "3-1", when 2 or 3 seeds remains in E and 1 in F.

The endgame by "uncertainty" occurs only when there remains no more than 2 or 3 seeds.