Wiki - manqala.org - Mancala Games /Lap

Lap

A Mancala move can consist of one or several laps. Games which have just single laps are called single lap Mancala, while games which have several laps (also called relay sowing) are known as multiple lap Mancala.

http://www.manqala.org/tauler.php?lletres=&llavors=4-4-4-4-4-4_4-4-4-4-4-4c&nord=&sud=&.png

Diag: Single Lap (Before)

http://www.manqala.org/tauler.php?lletres=&llavors=4-4-5-5-5-5_4-4-4-4-4-0&nord=&sud=&.png

Diag: Single Lap (After)

Note: These and the following diagrams show counterclockwise distribution.

Traditional single lap games are most common in West Africa, Arab countries and Central Asia. Multiple lap games are prevalent in central, eastern and southern regions of Africa, in India and south-eastern Asia. In the Caribbean and South America both types were described. Most modern Mancala games have also single lap movement.

Mancala games with one or two rows can be single or multi-lap games, while Mancala games which employ three or more rows are all multi-lap games.

Multiple lap games can either use the African style or the Indian style. Indian style multiple laps are most common in India, Sri Lanka, Yunnan (China), Myanmar and Vietnam. They are also known as pussa-kanawa among Mancala experts. A few isolated pussa-kanawa games have also been reported from Africa; e.g. Kisolo (Congo) and Bosh (Somalia).

In the African style, a new lap begins when the last seed falls into a non-empty hole. Its contents are then distributed into the following holes. The move ends when the last seed is dropped into an empty hole.

http://www.manqala.org/tauler.php?lletres=&llavors=3-3-3-3-3-3_3-3-3-3-3-3c&nord=&sud=&.png

Diag: African Style Multi-lap Move (Before)

http://www.manqala.org/tauler.php?lletres=&llavors=4-4-4-1-5-5_0-4-4-4-0-1&nord=&sud=&.png

Diag: African Style Multi-lap Move (After)

In the pussa-kanawa style, the move is continued with the contents of the hole following the hole which was filled last. The move ends when the last stone falls into a hole which is followed by an empty hole.

Diag: Indian Style Multi-lap Move (Before)

http://www.manqala.org/tauler.php?lletres=&llavors=4-4-0-4-4-4_4-0-4-4-4-0&nord=&sud=&.png

Diag: Indian Style Multi-lap Move (After)

Examples for Single Lap Games

Atomic Wari, Adji-boto, Cups, Kalah, Oware, Toguz Kumalak, Um Dyar, and Vai lung thlan.

Examples for Multiple Lap Games

African Style: 55Stones, Afrika, Andada, Anywoli, Sungka, Hus, Kiela, Bao La Kiswahili, Omweso, and Katro.

Indian Style: Ali Guli Mane, Olinda Kaliya, Pachgarhwa, Tap-Urdy, Ô Quan, Bosh and Kisolo.

Differences between Single Lap and Multiple Lap Games

Multi-lap moves effect more holes so that the resulting board position is more difficult to predict.
Multi-lap moves can lead to never-ending moves cycling around the board.