Ayo game online

A wooden board, a handful of seeds, and a little strategy. The Yoruba classic, on Naija Table.

What is Ayo?

Ayo (Ayoayo, Ayo Olopon) is the Yoruba seed-sowing game played across Nigeria, from compound verandas to school corridors. Two players face each other across a board of two rows of six pits, and the goal is to capture more seeds than your opponent.

How to play Ayo

1. Set up. Put four seeds in each of the twelve pits: 48 seeds in all. Each player owns the row of six pits nearest to them.
2. Sow. On your turn, pick up every seed from one of your pits and drop them one at a time into the following pits, going round the board counter-clockwise.
3. Capture. If your last seed lands in your opponent's row and makes that pit two or three seeds, you take them, along with any pits just before it on their side that also hold two or three.
4. Keep your opponent playing. Traditionally, if your opponent has no seeds left, you must make a move that gives them some if you can.
5. Win. When no more moves can be made, the player who captured the most seeds wins. 25 seeds is a guaranteed win.

House rules differ from place to place, especially for big pits of twelve or more seeds.

Ayo questions