What is it?
GAME PHILOSOPHY
It is an allegory of sowing and earning. That is, you sow and earn! That leaves its mark in the strategy. The game is played traditionally with holes in the ground and stones. Its origin is Africa.
GOAL OF THE GAME
Earn the maximum of stones… before you opponent, self-evidently. For that, you have to capture stones in your opponent's area, much like in draughts, but… From 25, you are through, but beware that if there is less than 6 stones left in game, you end in a draw.
HOW TO PLAY
The only decision to make is choosing one of the non empty holes in your area. Next, the procedure is always the same. You take all the stones in it, and sow them one by one in the next adjoining holes, anti-clockwise, in both areas, but except in the hole of origin which thus remains empty. Now captures have to be considered. If the last stone has fallen in a hole of the opponent's area, AND there is now 2 OR 3 stones in it, you earn them and consider a further capture in the previous adjoining hole, and so on, until you get in your own area. In order not to block the game, you have to play so that at least one stone remains in your opponent's area.
USER INTERFACE
Just click on the chosen hole when it is your turn, or type its number between 1 and 6. You let the PC begin by clicking on the Game/PC_first menu item. You can customize the level by choosing the depth of analyse reckoned in half-moves by clicking on Game/Custom_level… With Game/Auto, you see the PC playing against itself. With Game/Manual, you take on both sides, what allows to force a move on your opponent.
STRATEGY
For a capture to be possible, there must already be 1 or 2 stones in one hole of the other area. Of course, your opponent (and yourself) avoids that. Thus, the best method is to sow them by yourself. A still better method is sowing and earning at the same time, and therefore having a hole with enough stones in it, at least 12, to make two turns. Such a hole is called a
kroo. The strategy is summarized as: make provisions, sow, and earn… faster than your opponent.
