Ali Guli Mane is an abstract strategy board game

Board game

A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...

 of the mancala

Mancala

Mancala is a family of board games played around the world, sometimes called "sowing" games, or "count-and-capture" games, which describes the game-play. Mancala games play a role in many African and some Asian societies comparable to that of chess in the West, or the game of Go in Eastern Asia...

 family, from Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

 in South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

. The name of the game, like that of many mancala games across the world, is simply a description of the board used: it means a "wooden block with holes". It is similar (or identical?) to Pallanguzhi

Pallanguzhi

Pallanghuzi, or Pallankuli, is a traditional mancala game played in South India, especially Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Variants are called as Vamana guntalu and Kuzhipara...

 from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. There are also similarities with the traditional Indonesian

Culture of Indonesia

Indonesian culture has been shaped by long interaction between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia is central along ancient trading routes between the Far East and the Middle East, resulting in many cultural practices being strongly influenced by a multitude of...

 mancala game Congkak.

Initial setup

Ali Guli Mane uses two rows of 7 holes each. Each player "owns" the row of holes closest to him. The game starts with 70 pieces (usually tamarind

Tamarind

Tamarind is a tree in the family Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic .-Origin:...

 seeds or small shells), with 5 in each hole.

Turns

In each turn, the player removes all seeds from a hole and distributes them clockwise or anti-clockwise, at his or her own choice. This sowing is done sequentially but the principle is slightly different from that used in a game like Pallanguzhi. Once the last of the seeds is placed, the player take all the seeds in the next hole (clockwise or anti-clockwise as per the sowing) and continues placing them in this way.

If the next hole is empty (saada), the player stops and captures all the seeds in the hole next to the empty one, and all those in the hole opposite it. For instance, if an anti-clockwise sowing ends in A5 (and A4 is empty) then the player captures the contents of A3 and B3.

A1	A2	A3	A4	A5	A6	A7
B1	B2	B3	B4	B5	B6	B7

The player can take two sowings, if he captured in the first one; thus the turn ends after two saadas.

Termination

The game ends when all the seeds of a player have been captured, and is won by the player who has captured the most seeds.

Multiple matches

Ali Guli Mane is often played as the Congkak, following the first game with new matches handicapped. The players arrange in their own part the seeds that they have captured. The player who has won more seeds, having an excess (more than 35), can fill his or her holes with 5 seeds each, holding aside the additional seeds as "already captured". The other player fills as many holes with 5 seeds as possible, holding as "already captured" any remaining seeds not sufficient to fill a hole (i.e., up to 4). All holes left empty will be marked in some way to remember that they are "protected" holes, and they will not be used in the new game.

External links

• Ali guli mane at Mancala World.
• Ali guli mane boards, players at Board Games of India.