1. Oware is played on a board with 12 large play spaces (houses) around the outside of the board and one large score house for each player in the centre.

2. Oware requires 48 BEADs of any colour. 4 BEADs are placed into each of the houses to start the game.

3. Players decide who begins the game by rolling a die.

1. In turns, players pick up all the BEADs from any 1 of the houses on their side of the board and redistribute them 1 BEAD per house counter-clockwise including houses on their opponent’s side of the board.

2. If a player has 12 or more BEADs to redistribute, they must skip the original house, leaving it empty at the end of the turn.

3. If a player’s final BEAD is deposited in a house on their side of the board, they take another turn.

4. At the end of the turn, if the last BEAD is deposited into a house on the opponent’s side of the board with exactly 2 or 3 BEADs, the player captures all these BEADs.

5. A player may also capture all the BEADs in houses prior to the final BEAD played if they also have 2 or 3 BEADs in them. If a house has 1, or 4 or more seeds in it, the string of captures is broken.

6. If a move would capture all BEADs on the opponent’s side of the board, the capture is forfeited as this would prevent their opponent from continuing the game.

7. All captured BEADs are placed into the player’s score house.

1. To win the game, a player must capture more BEADs than their opponent.

2. The game ends in a draw if both players have 24 seeds.

1. Oware is one of the most widespread games in the mancala family.

2. Considered to be the national game of Ashanti City-State, Oware is said to derive its name (which literally means - he/she marries) from a legend in the Ashanti language and Ashanti Twi, the language of the Ashanti people, about a man and a woman who played the game endlessly and, so as to be able to stay together and continue playing, they got married.

3. Reflecting traditional African values, in recreational play, it is normal for spectators to discuss the game in progress and to advise the players. Games may provide a focus for entertainment and meeting others.

4. Oware and variations of it, also had an important role in teaching arithmetics to African children.