What is oware ?

Oware (pronounced oh-wah-ruh) is an intriguing game, learned in a few minutes, that may take years to master. It is more commonly called Wari in much of West Africa and where it is played in the New World. It is one of a large family of games called Mancala. Mancala games have a fascinating history and unusual cultural significance. Later in this book we will examine those facets of the game. (from the book)

W. W. Sawyer, famous author of popular books on mathematics, wrote in a 1949 note to Scripta Mathematica from University College, Achimota in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) :

"Oware is a game popular in West Africa. Practically everyone knows how to play it. It is, to the best of my knowledge, the most arithmetical game with a mass following anywhere in the world. African children must benefit from the familiarity with numbers that this game gives, and it may have a classroom use in other countries." (the entire note is contained in the book).

"When I started on the task of "computerizing" the game of Oware it had not crossed my mind that it would be anything more than than a fairly routine programming project. It did not take long for me to realize that I had unwittingly unearthed a little jewel of African culture that had been re-interred, in this country at least, by the settled dust raised by the turmoil of the last century. This was serendipity indeed. I would like to share some of the pleasure and excitement that my discoveries brought me." (from the chapter of the book, The Name of the Game, the author's account of his research and discoveries about oware).

[NEXT] [PREVIOUS]

Return to Oware! Home Page