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

Given that same game has so many names in different languages, different rules going with the different names (and time of the day ?), and that Yoruba is a tonal language (like Chinese, for which it took me years to finally got it almost right), isn't it safer to wait for a potential opponent to propose a game, then ask for a quick refresh of the set of rules (to make sure you are playing with the same rules as on the other side of that river you just crossed) ?

I have very fond memories of entire nights spend playing (one of the many variants of) that game in Mali, and the game was indeed associated with light but continuous absorption of some local alcool, long discussions on local exceptions to the rules, head shaking, hand and tone rising, and long periods of silence while one (or the two) of the opponents would ponder the strategical value of the next move.

The game seems to get increasingly intense as the number of tokens remaining decreases, as it seems that the fewer the tokens, the more potentially devastating each turn.


Are you familiar with that other game, quite similar in the settings (holes in the ground and tokens traveling through them), that is played with two rows of 6 holes on each side ? Or was it two rows of 5 ?
Or was it too much of the local ?...

I've never been to Mali, Connie, so I really don't know the local rules

Even here in Lagos you find boards with 12 houses per player, but I'm told that they're for experts only. One Gabonese version I've seen 'Songo' has 7 houses per player with five seeds per house.

You're right about the end-game, though. It can be devillishly difficult to kill off someone who knows what they're doing even if you've gained an earlier advantage.

As for the initial approach, well, that depends very much on your host community, and how confident/adventurous/(foolish) you're prepared to be. I know people who come out here and then spend all their free time barricaded behind the security gates of their apartments. Few seem to go away with 'very fond memories' of their experience, and even fewer learn how to play Ayo. Pity.