Mancala Games Books

I've read the older copy, and if this is anything like the original, then every Mancala player should get it. Not too hard to learn the basics, and really easy to get into the harder stragadies. The game itself provides hours of fun. I learned this game from my Philipino friends, and eventually learned 9 different games using the same board. (I'm so good, I beat the philipino grandfathers who has been playing this game for years) The variations are endless. Give it whirl.

A few years ago I was at a friend's game night, and one of the guests pulled out a mancala set, at the same time putting the game down as "mindless". I took issue with her characterization and went on to beat her soundly, so I guess for her the game was mindless.

A couple of years later I read about Russ' book in the excellent book New Rules for Classic Games. Since it was out of print, I immediately went looking for it in used book stores and on used book websites. I couldn't find it anywhere. Finally, this new edition came out. I immediately bought a copy, and I haven't been disappointed.

The most interesting thing to find out is that the rules most mancala sets come with, which some people consider childishly simple and which do have a strong first move advantage, are not even found in this book. Different mancala games feature different rules for movement, capture, and objective, and most mancala sets come with a set of rules combining the simplest features from each of these categories, resulting in a shallow, boring game.

Mancala Games goes a long way toward rectifying that. Not one game, but many different games played on similar boards (think of all the games you can play on a rectangular grid), mancala games vary from children's games to adult games of astonishing complexity. Some are better than others--you won't like every game in this book, but you'll definitely have hours of fun trying them all out before you settle on a few favorites.

The author includes strategy tips for a few of the games, usually when introducing a group of games with a fundamentally different style of play, but for the most part the book is just a catalog of rules. The only reason I didn't give it five stars (and without any competing titles, I'd recommend it to game buffs in any event), is that the games could be catalogued better. Each game could have a standard heading that included the style of capture, the objective, a complexity rating, etc. Or this information could be captured in a table at the end of the book that matrixed each game with its key features.

Also every game is given its own heading, so that a game's description is frequently followed by two or three other games with descriptions that read "This game is played by the So-and-so people of Such-and-such country by the rules just given for the last game." Several entries could profitably be collapsed into one entry, and a rules-and-variations approach (like that found in many games compendiums) would make it easier to see how games are related to each other.

Nonetheless, the rules as they are presented are quite clear. This book is an absolute must for board game fans and families.

This book has some nice pictures and lists a lot of would-be kalah games. But there are two problems: 1) Even with an example or two of play, there is no analysis of the game or its strategies at all. Not for any of them, not even one. 2) Even with an introduction which carefully explains that it is a game for men (although little children are encouraged to play with it) the game sketches uniformly refer to the south player as "he" and the north player as "she." This Femspeak is totally distracting. If you want to know what Kalah is really all about, look eksewhere, although a really good book may be hard to find!

I found the book to be fasinating and informative. Our family played Mancala the way the children learned to play it at the YMCA.Beside the history of the game the book taught us several other ways to play...and there is even a four player Mancala set which we recently purchased....one for us and one for the YMCA!

Seldom do you take the time to learn the history of a game.When I saw the book it was a "must have" and I'm so glad that I bought it.In this day and age we seem so busy running from place to place with little thought given to what we're doing.The book and the game have brought HOURS of family fun and entertainment into our home.Some folks who happened to have visited us while we were in the middle of a game became so intrigued with the game that while we played they read some of the book....then purchased both for Christmas gifts.

Don't miss this great opportunity to learn about and play MANCALA!