Customer Reviews

All About Mancala: Its History and How to Play

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found the book to be fasinating and informative. Our family played Mancala the way the children learned to play it at the YMCA.Beside the history of the game the book taught us several other ways to play...and there is even a four player Mancala set which we recently purchased....one for us and one for the YMCA!

Seldom do you take the time to learn the history of a game.When I saw the book it was a "must have" and I'm so glad that I bought it.In this day and age we seem so busy running from place to place with little thought given to what we're doing.The book and the game have brought HOURS of family fun and entertainment into our home.Some folks who happened to have visited us while we were in the middle of a game became so intrigued with the game that while we played they read some of the book....then purchased both for Christmas gifts.

Don't miss this great opportunity to learn about and play MANCALA!

This book has some nice pictures and lists a lot of would-be kalah games. But there are two problems: 1) Even with an example or two of play, there is no analysis of the game or its strategies at all. Not for any of them, not even one. 2) Even with an introduction which carefully explains that it is a game for men (although little children are encouraged to play with it) the game sketches uniformly refer to the south player as "he" and the north player as "she." This Femspeak is totally distracting. If you want to know what Kalah is really all about, look eksewhere, although a really good book may be hard to find!

I have found that Mancala is a naturally fun game in lots of social settings - indoors on a rainy day or outdoors under the shade of a maple tree on inviting days...The Hansons' book contributes greatly to those fun times with the game history, their person history, and other tidbits of 'gossip' about this ancient game activity that I and others can interject into the conversation while the game unfolds...And, it's fun to suggest some of the variations that seem cultural/geographical based and unusual!...I guess I would have to concur with one of the points made by a critic of this book, in that some discussion of strategies might have been helpful...For example, I was looking for 'opening moves', and some of their counter moves!...It seemed like I (as a novice) was noting some trends and wondered about possible analyses that the authors might have provided...Maybe in the sequel?...Or, collect some online data by starting a blog and getting experts to contribute their strategies, or encourage online games and 'analyze' the strategies used by the players!...Thanx Hansons for providing a lot of information and inspiration related to this fun, ancient, but still relevant game, Mancala...

Most people know just one way of playing Mancala and they will play that same game over and over because they just love playing. This book offers Mancala players a whole new world of exciting and interesting games to play! Whether you just know one game or already have a small collection of your own variations,this book is a must for Mancala enthusiasts. This book has a vast variety of different games and new ideas. A great book!