By 'Tope Rebecca Olotu
I remember playing this game with my grandmother, and some of our neighbours in the western part of Nigeria where I grew up.
“Opon Ayo” also called “Ayo Olopon” or simply “Ayo” is a traditional game played by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. It’s a two-player board game that has been in existence for a long time in the Yoruba land. Other tribes also play this game and they have different names for it. It is a game that requires a lot of brain power and mathematical skill. “Ayo” is played in a carved wooden box, containing twelve holes (six holes on each side), and forty-eight Ayo seeds (four seeds in each hole).
There are many different rules for playing this game, and different groups or families make up their own rules. My hubby grew up with the rule involving capturing the last two and three seeds during your round. While the rule I grew up with was to capture all the fours on the way during the round. It is important for the players to agree on the rule they are playing by right at the beginning of the game to avoid/reduce arguments. I am still compiling the various rules for playing this game – please share yours with me in the comments below.
“Opon Ayo game teaches mathematics, risk management, problem solving and resilience”
Players take turn until the seeds are exhausted or until they are tired or frustrated. The goal of each of the players is to capture more seeds than the opponent. But often times, the person with more than half of the ayo (seeds) at any point during the game is already the winner, meaning the person with 25 ayo has already won; although the opponent will always want to try to push to see if they could win more ayo or just hang in there for the fun of it.
Ayo game requires good planning, deep thought, and a good strategy to move seeds with the ultimate aim to capture more seeds/ayo and win. A careless move can make you lose all your seeds. This traditional game teaches mathematics, showcases players’ risk tolerance and requires you to think deeply. The players continue to demonstrate problem solving skills and resilience throughout the game.
I strongly recommend this game, it is both fun and educational. The non-profit organization I founded a while ago (Aspire Hub) is currently doing a campaign to encourage children and youth to take time off the screens that surround them at different times during the day, and do something else like running, cooking, walking, dancing, reading a real book, playing a board game, arranging a puzzle etc; we call the campaign – #DailyAnalogMoments; and it is just to encourage our children and youth to take a screen break and develop other aspects of their lives. This game is one activity the entire family can play and enjoy together.
I also challenge you to unplug, step away from those screens a little bit, and try this game and other board games. There are a number of local shops and African shops that sell this game; I think it is worthwhile to own one at home, or what do you think?
And don’t forget, I am still compiling the rules for playing this game, buzz me if your rule is different from mine.
