Fantasy Mancala

[Bogie]

As I mentioned in Tilt's original post I am going to try do something with Mancala.


It should be straight forward doing the game board, the trick will be how to make it
in a fantasy genre since there are no graphics to speak of on the board itself.

[Wannabehero]

Very interesting idea Bogie, I'm very curious to see how you will approach this.

I remember the first time I ever played Mancala was inside of a computer game (Quest for Glory 3). I don't know if it is a good idea, but seeing as Mancala is African in origin, maybe you could work in some sort of African-Fantasy type style.

Then again, a complete departure from the game's roots into some strange alternate setting seems entirely appropriate also. Like I said, I'm very interested to see how you will approach this and eager to see the end product.

[dangerdog15]

I've never played this game, so I don't have much info. Having little to no graphics does leave things open for the mapping element. This'll be interesting to see.

[heavyrocks]

I would love to see a game based on Mancala, but advanced with some new strategic twist...and also graphically beautified. How would one go about adding more players? More is always merrier....most of the time.

[Ares96]

I would like to add to the debate the fact that Mancala is not the name of any specific game, but rather a family of games. Thus, referring to what you're about to do as "Mancala-based" makes about as much sense as calling baseball "safe haven".

[Bogie]

Unlike the people who are doing some great addaptations of board games that have lots of graphics to play with, Mancala is a fairly basic setup. In researching this I even saw a picture of players who were just playing on the ground with "cups" scooped out of the sand and small rocks for playing pieces.

Since I know little about the many facets of this game and possess even less skill working with an African Art style, I am mainly looking at making an interesting looking game board using the skills I have. I have been trying different materials that a board might be carved out of, such as stone, or wood but I think I have settled on something fancier like a miniature castle with the game inside it.

Just to see what I had been working on here is a marble board I almost finished.

[Bogie]

I have the basic layout on what I want to do with this castle mancala board. It still needs a lot of detailing and I may change the textures but this is where it's at so far.

### Latest WIP ###

[Bogie]

Broderick considered himself to be one of the best stonemasons in the kingdom, but King Hammond seemed to favor his rivals when it came time to build another castle. But, Broderick had a plan. He knew that the King had two favorite pastimes, castles and Mancala. Few in the kingdom had ever heard of Mancala, but when Hammond was a boy he had traveled to exotic lands with his father and learned to love this game.
Broderick cleverly figured out a way to combine the two. He would build a miniature castle with a Mancala game board inside it. The mason knew the basic rules: 36 stones divided evenly into 12 pits (6 on each side) with 2 larger storage pits, one at each end. The players move the stones around the pits trying to capture as many as they can get into their storage pit.
Broderick made the castle and presented it to the King. Hammond loved it and when Broderick built the King's new castle overlooking the ocean, he had a special room just for his Mancala-Castle.

[Bogie]

Here is the game board by itself:

### Latest WIP ###

[lostatsea]

I don't know anything about the original game but your castle translation would interest me enough to play. Great work !!