h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Does anyone else know this game? Its one of my favorites.

your friedly neighborhood

Yeah...I've got the game....havent played it in a while though.

great game, but once a couple of people who are good at it get together its usually the first one to go who wins

Is it a board game? The name mancala brings to mind a long board with two rows of dimples into which one places beads and move them around by some arcane rules - is that the one?

I haven't played it, though I did glance at the instructions in my big book of games - The Way To Play

Pimms

Yea that’s the game “The name mancala brings to mind a long board with two rows of dimples into which one places beads and move them around by some arcane rules - is that the one?”

I would have explained it better but I was in a hurry yesterday. My understanding is that it is an old African game that used to be play with sea shells. I have never got into the situation that short Rz describes but I can see it happing.

There are several variations on this. The ones my kids like is :
- 3 stones in each cup
- first player takes all stones out of one hole on his side and deposits them one at a time going clockwise in each hole until they run out
- players alternate doing that until one side is empty
- there are 6 holes on each side and one on each end, so the stones that go into the hole on the left end are yours to keep
- if you end in your end hole, you go again
- if you end in an empty hole (side, not end) you get all the stones in the hole opposite it
- when one players is out of stones on their side, the other player gets all the stones left on their side, and whoever has the most stones in their end wins


I know there are other varients, though.

I've been playing four stones to a cup, but other than that, that's the game I know.

My dad has it as a game on his cell phone. on there it's called Butami, but it's the same game.

""I've been playing four stones to a cup, but other than that, that's the game I know." Same here.

Could you describe any other versions Puzzle Mage?

No, that's the only one I know the rules to. I seem to remember there being different variations from different countries, but I don't really know them.

My eldest daughter has a version of it along with alternate rules for different African countries...

But it's stored in her bedroom and she's asleep for the night.

I'll try and grab it tomorrow.

I know of a version called warri. The board has no end pockets and you have 4 stones per pit. Rules similar to whats been said before.

My mother, who is from the Caribbean, says that the fishermen used to play it using larde seeds or smooth round pepples. The game is definitely african in origin though . ..

2of3

The version I know is the one found on Nokia phones! I was in London with some friends who had a board several months ago and we all found we had so many different variations on how the game was to be played that eventually we decided to play "Nokia Rules" because most of us were most familiar with the version on our phones.

In Africa they play it with stones or seeds using a board made of circles scratched in the dust. Their hands move so fast you feel as if they have been playing it from the day their tiny hands were big enough to grasp a stone.

It is actually highly addictive and endlessly fascinating. Varying the number of stones you start with gives a different twist to every game. It is possible to play aggressively or defensively and there are a variety of strategies. It is a game that definitely needs more press.

seyms