LUSITANO RETREAT — Oware — Abapa
Akan traditions of Ghana; played across West Africa and the Caribbean
Players: 2
CHOSEN VERSION: Abapa with void grand-slam capture; other mancala games and regional Oware rules differ.

EQUIPMENT
1. 12 pits in two rows of six
2. 48 seeds or counters; two separate capture bowls

SETUP
1. Put four seeds in each pit. Each player controls the six nearest pits; captured seeds are kept off the sowing circuit. Agree the first player.

HOW TO PLAY
1. Lift every seed from one non-empty pit in your row. Sow one per pit anticlockwise, starting with the next pit. Skip the emptied starting pit on every complete circuit.
2. Only the final seed can initiate capture: if it leaves an opponent pit with exactly 2 or 3 seeds, take them. Work backwards through consecutive opponent pits containing 2 or 3, stopping at any other count or your own row.
3. If this capture would empty the entire opponent row, take none: leave the sown seeds in place.
4. When the opponent row is empty, choose a move that feeds it if possible. If no feeding move exists, end play and collect the seeds remaining on your side.

SCORING
1. Each captured seed is one point. In an agreed endless cycle, each player collects seeds on their own side.

WINNING: 25 seeds wins; 24–24 draws.

AT THE RETREAT
Make a portable board with twelve shallow dishes; counters must be too large for young children to swallow.

SOURCES
Oware Society — rules — https://www.oware.org/rules.asp
Federation-associated original rules endpoint; direct fetch unavailable during review.
Carl Burch — Oware implementation rules — https://cburch.com/mancala/
Author’s own implementation documents sowing, capture and feeding; checked independently.

https://lusitanoretreat.com/build-guides/world-games/#game-oware