DARA

This game from (at least) the XIX^th century, is played in Nigeria by the Dakarkari people. Lada Urbanova knows this game under the name "Doki" meaning "horse" in Haussa language. It's another clever relative of Tic-Tac-Toe. The game starts in an empty 5x6 square board.

 

FIRST PHASE [DROP] - Players alternate moves by dropping 24 stones (12 for each) into empty cells.. SECOND PHASE [MOVE] - Each player moves a stone into an adjacent orthogonal empty cell. CAPTURE - When a player makes a 3 in-a-row (no diagonals, no 4+ in a row), it removes one enemy stone from the board which is not part of a 3 in-a-row. GOAL - A player wins, when his opponent is unable to form 3 in a row with his stones.

 

An example Black moves c6 to cell [1] and captures c3. White has no good moves and will loose the game (he cannot prevent Black's d4-d3, e4-d4)