This game is a variant of mancala, called Ayo, popular in the Yoruba-speaking parts of Nigeria. The computer game derived therefrom was modeled by Oparah George Uzohue. Mancala is a board game popular throughout Africa, Asia Europe and America. Most mancala games are played on boards with 2 rows of 6 holes each, containing 4 seeds per hole. In Ayo, each row is assigned to the player nearer to it. Two players play the game.A player can start playing Ayo only from his side or row (column); he can win seeds in holes on his opponent's side only.
Exactly 2 persons are required to play Ayo. Like some versions of mancala, each player has a corresponding side. The game is played turn by turn; at each player's turn he picks any non-empty hole he chooses from his side to start his run.He must choose a non-empty hole and his turn must not result in his opponent not being able to play because all the opponent's holes are empty; unless he wins in his turn, in which case the opponent's ability to play his turn is immaterial. Initially, there are 4 seeds per hole. A player picks a hole, empties the contents into his hand, and places each seed in his hand into the following holes in an anti-clockwise direction - one seed per hole. In the one-lap-per-turn version of Ayo, which is more popular, the turn ends when he places the last seed in his hand into a hole. If the last seed in his hand falls into a hole so as to make the number of seeds 2 or 3, the player wins the seeds if they are in his opponent's side. Moreover he wins the seeds in the unbroken chain of neighboring holes on his opponent's side containing two or three seeds.
When, as said before, a player gets 2 or 3 seeds in a hole on the opponents side in his last 'seeding' he empties all the contents of that hole and of contiguous holes with 2/3 seeds on the opponent's side to his corner. The aim of each player is to win as many seeds to his corner as possible. Seeds won are not returned to the holes until another game starts
The game ends when the total number of seeds won by both players is 25 or more. The game should end if it is clear to both players that no seed can henceforth be won by playing further. The player with the greater number of seeds in his corner is the winner. ( Alternatively, the players may decide to end the game when the number of seeds left in the holes has reduced to a predetermined level.)
In this computer model of AYO, the board has been represented by 2 columns of buttons.Buttons represent holes of AYO and the labels on the buttons the number of seeds. A player plays the game by clicking on the button for the hole where he wants to start doing a run; the computer does the playing for him and outputs the result as a new configuration or state of the user interface. The buttons "Display Runs" and "Show Runs in Detail" open windows for displaying the states of the AYO board from the start of the game to the time they were clicked.This can be used by players to improve their strategies as well as for conflict resolution.