Bao

You own the two bottom rows of holes; the opponent owns the two top rows. On your turn you lift the seeds from one of your holes and sow them one per hole; if the last seed lands in a non-empty hole you keep relaying, so a single move can travel for laps and trigger captures. Reduce your opponent until they can no longer make a legal move.

• Pick a hole with enough seeds, then choose your sowing direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) using the two arrows.
• Landing rules let you capture the enemy seeds across from a loaded hole and drop them back into play.
• The deep relay mechanic means reading several laps ahead is the whole game.

• Desktop: click one of your holes (with two or more seeds), pick a direction arrow, and the sow plays out.
• Phone & tablet: tap a hole and tap a direction, the board is fully touch-friendly.

• Before sowing, trace where the final seed lands, a relay that ends in your own loaded hole keeps your turn rolling.
• Set up captures by loading holes opposite the enemy's stockpiles.
• Hoard a reserve hole so you always have a safe move when the board tightens.

Bao is the deep, demanding mancala game of the Swahili coast — Tanzania, Kenya, and above all Zanzibar, where the word bao simply means board. It is played on four rows of eight pits, and the full version, bao la kiswahili, is regarded as one of the hardest games in the mancala family.

What raises it above simple sowing is that captures feed back into your own board: seeds taken from the opponent are re-sown on your side, so a capture rearranges your position as much as theirs. Long sequences cascade from a single move and are extremely difficult to read ahead. Bao has been played competitively for generations, with recognised masters and a body of opening knowledge passed on by teaching rather than in writing.

Bao is the most strategically rich member of the traditional mancala seed-sowing family, long played across East Africa. This is an original, free browser version with three computer difficulty levels and pass-and-play.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.