The thrill, excitement, intensity of emotions, breathlessness, thirst for victory, the desire to conquer an opponent – all these are inherent traits of human psychology and a part of our lives. For us, games are not only an opportunity to uplift our spirits, tickle our nerves, and fill our pockets, but also a kind of model of the surrounding world, as well as an important means of communication. It's worth to be part of no deposit bonus casinos.

Mancala

The oldest board game is considered to be Mancala. Strictly speaking, there is no game with this name: Mancala (distorted Arabic "naqala" – to move) is a large family of games involving the movement of stones. Its history, according to the strictest assumptions, spans five thousand years, and many scholars even suggest seven thousand. Stones with carved rows of pits have been found in the ancient city of Aleppo in Syria, in the temples of Memphis, Thebes, and Luxor in Egypt, and along caravan routes in the Kalahari Desert (hence another name for the game – Kalah). Even in the pyramid of Khufu, such a "board" with a playing field was found. These games spread widely and have survived to our days. Mancala has always been popular among nomadic peoples: there is no need to carry a board and figurines – it is enough to dig a dozen pits in the ground, take a handful of coffee beans, and the game can begin. Today, almost all peoples of Africa and Asia have similar games. In West Africa, it is called "Oware" or "Owari", among the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, it is "Toguz Kumalak", and among the Indians, it is "Pallankuzhi" and "Olinda Keliya". The rarest game of this family is the three-row Gabata from Ethiopia and Somalia, and the most complex are the four-row Bao and Omweso from Central Africa. In Germany, a children's version of the game is sold under the name "Apfelklau" ("Steal the Apple"), and in the USSR, it was called "Kalah". There are many names, the number of rows, pits, and stones varies, but the basic principles are similar: one must occupy a pit, which grants the right to take stones from the opponent, and ultimately accumulate more stones.

In addition to pure entertainment, such games contain the "genetic" memory of humanity about the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Movement in a circle symbolizes the cyclicity of the year and the change of seasons, the distribution of stones simultaneously represents sowing and harvesting, and empty pits symbolize hunger and crop failure. Here, ancient divination rituals are also "hidden" along with the very first counting boards.

Mancala captivates and produces an impression of pure shamanism to an inexperienced observer. It is interesting to beginners and masters alike. The rules can be learned in five minutes, but the game itself is far from as simple as it may seem: it has a special, elusive tactic based on precise counting. The opponent should not "starve", and if he loses all the seeds, one must give him some to continue the game. A good Mancala player cannot be greedy and selfish, as in this game, the rules of "Who wants to receive, must learn to give" and "He who sows better will gather more" apply. Everything is determined by nuances, each move completely changes the situation on the board, the number of combinations is huge, and analyzing them is an exciting task. For this reason, Mancala is recommended by educators and caregivers today for developing children's attention, counting skills, and fine motor skills. Many companies produce this game (there are even versions for four players), but they are all overshadowed by the famous carvers from the Republic of Ghana, who create sets of astonishing beauty.

This game is surrounded by a multitude of myths. The Maasai believe that Mancala was invented by Sindillo, the first man. In Ghana, the game Oware was part of combat training – warriors played it to test their reaction. And if a king died, the council organized a tournament, and the winner became the successor. This same game is mentioned in the Malian epic "Sundiata" of the Mandingo people. And modern Malian students play Oware after school.

Regular tournaments between cities are held in Burkina Faso. Professional players in Tanzania study the tactics and strategy of the game Bao as seriously as chess players, and no European has yet won even against the worst of them. Among the Yoruba people, there are two varieties of such a game: one (Abapa or Ayowayo) is played by men, the other (Nam-nam or simply Ayo) is played by women and children.

The name Oware is associated with the name Katakie Opo Kware I, the king of Ashanti (an ancient state in the territory of modern Ghana), who had a habit of settling family disputes with the help of the game: after the game, spouses began to understand each other much better, and the word "warri" in Ghana still refers to a married man. However, in neighboring Togo, there is a warning proverb for avid gamblers: "Oware is the main cause of divorces". And King Shunba Balongobo of Ghana loved this game so much that he bequeathed to be carved in the form of a statue with a board for Oware on his knees and another one on his head as symbols of power and intellect.

The game was also used in funeral rituals: people entertained the spirit of the deceased until the body was buried. There were usually two boards in the village square – straight and curved, and the villagers chose the one that the deceased did not like, so that his spirit would not want to join them. For the same reason, it was considered dangerous to continue playing after sunset, and the boards were placed outside the threshold at night so that the spirits could also play.

Surprisingly, in this ancient game, there is no element of luck, everything depends on attention and intelligence. When it comes to games, humanity will not return to such an approach anytime soon.