5 Games That Originated in Africa That Are Similar to Games Still Played Today

Mancala Mancala is one of the oldest games in the world, and it's still being played today. Pits have been found carved into the roofs of ancient Egyptian tombs in Luxor and Thebes. The name means "to transfer" in Arabic. Small stones or seeds were used in its earlier days, but now marbles are more commonly used for the game. Zamma Zamma is a traditional board game in North Africa. Zamma boards have been found dating back to 1400 B.C. Each player gets 40 pieces, half black and half white. The goal is to capture your opponents pieces by hopping over them. It is similar to the game of checkers. Mbube, Mbube Imbube is one of the Zulu words for "lion." The game is similar to Marco Polo. The player who is the "lion" and the player who is the impala are blindfolded and spun around. The other players then encircle the lion and start chanting "mbube, mbube"("Mboo-bay Mboo-bay"). The faster and louder the chants, the closer the lion is to getting the impala. But the farther away he gets, the softer and slower the chants get. Dara/Derra or Doki The game that's been played in Nigeria for several hundred years is a bit similar to Tic-Tac-Toe. The game is traditionally played by the Dakarkari people. The board is made up of squares in a 5-by-6 grid (sometimes a 6-by-7 grid). Each player has 12 stones that they drop alternately into the empty squares. When a player has three in a row, he or she can take out an enemy piece. A player wins when his/her opponent cannot form three in a row. Kudoda The game is very similar to jacks. In this game, players sit around a bowl of 20 to 30 marbles or stones. Played in Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Kenya, the first player tosses up one of the stones and tries to gather as many out of the bowl before it falls down. The player with the most collected after everyone has gone is the winner.

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