Adji-Boto
Game type: Two-player two-row mancala with two end stores, five holes per row, ten seeds per hole — single-lap sowing leaving one counter behind; forward-chain captures of odd amounts (1, 3, or 5 seeds); opening restriction cycle; ends by mutual immobilization
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Overview
Adji-Boto is a traditional mancala played by the Saramaka (Saramaccan) Maroons inhabiting the rainforest along the Suriname River in South America. Distinctive among New World mancalas for its ritual gravity, Adji-Boto was traditionally carved from native cedar into boat- or stool-shaped boards and played exclusively by adult men during mourning wakes (kee or tjutju). The game served to comfort and entertain the soul of the departed before their final journey into the spirit world. First documented ethnographically in the 1920s and 1930s by American anthropologist Melville J. Herskovits in his field studies on Afro-Surinamese culture, the game is played with the glossy grey seeds of the wild nickernut tree (Guilandina bonduc, locally known as adji), from which the game draws its name.
Board
- Ranks/rows: Two
- Holes per row: 5 playing cavities (total 10 playing pits)
- Stores: Two large storage troughs called boto ("boat"), one at either end of the board
- Counters: 10 seeds per playing hole at the opening (100 seeds total)
- Layout:
[ Player 1 Store: Boto ]
[ 0 ] [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] <- Player 1
[ 9 ] [ 8 ] [ 7 ] [ 6 ] [ 5 ] <- Player 0
[ Player 0 Store: Boto ]How to Play
- Sowing proceeds strictly in a counter-clockwise direction around the ten playing pits, bypassing both end stores during regular distribution.
- Leaving a seed behind: On their turn, a player scoops all seeds from one of their own pits EXCEPT ONE, which must remain behind in the origin pit. The scooped seeds are then sown one by one into the succeeding pits.
- The Opening Restriction:
- In the opening phase, every pit on the board must be played once before any pit can be played a second time.
- Each player must initiate a move from each of their five pits in turn.
- No captures are permitted during this mandatory ten-move opening cycle.
- Passing: If a player has no legal moves on their turn, they must pass. The other player continues moving until the stalled player has a valid move or neither player can play.
Capturing
- After the initial opening cycle has concluded, captures become active:
- If the last seed of a sowing lands in a pit, and the pit immediately following that landing pit in the sowing direction holds exactly 1, 3, or 5 seeds, all seeds in that following pit are captured and placed into the player's boto.
- Forward Chaining: The capture continues forward in the sowing direction as long as subsequent consecutive pits also hold 1, 3, or 5 seeds.
- When a pit holding an even number of seeds (other than zero) or more than 5 seeds is encountered, the capture chain stops immediately.
- The landing pit itself is never captured.
End of Game and Winning
- The game terminates when neither player can make a legal move (mutual immobilization / stalemate).
- Any seeds remaining on the board are swept by each player from their own side into their respective boto.
- The player who has collected the greater number of seeds in their boto wins the game.
Notes
- The name Adji-Boto unites the Maroon word adji (referring to the hard, round seeds of Guilandina bonduc / Caesalpinia bonduc) with boto, meaning "boat" in Sranan Tongo and Saramaccan, describing the dugout canoe silhouette of the ceremonial boards.
- Boards are masterpieces of Maroon woodcarving art, frequently embellished with elaborate geometric openwork (tembe) and motifs symbolizing clan history and spiritual protection.
- Because of its deep sacred associations with funerary rites, traditional custom prohibited playing the game during daylight or for frivolous recreation outside wake gatherings.
Source: Mancala World – Adji-boto