Ayo — Ayo Olopon, or ayoayo — is the Yoruba seed game played on a carved wooden board, a cousin of oware and the other mancala games of West Africa. It looks simple and it is not: good players count every seed. Here are the rules Naija Life uses, and you can play them free in the Games app.
The board
Two rows of six pits, one row each. Every pit starts with four seeds — 48 in all.
Sowing
- On your turn, pick one of your pits that has seeds and lift all of them.
- Sow them one per pit, anticlockwise: along your row, then round into your opponent’s.
- If you have so many seeds that you go all the way round, skip the pit you lifted from.
Capturing
If your last seed lands in your opponent’s row and makes that pit hold exactly two or three seeds, you take them. Then look at the pit just before it: if that one, also in their row, holds two or three, take it too — and keep going back until a pit doesn’t, or you reach your own row.
One exception: if a capture would take every seed your opponent has left, the sowing stands but nothing is taken. You can’t starve them out that way.
Feeding
If your opponent’s row is empty, you must make a move that puts seeds into it, if you have one. If nobody can move — or the game goes 80 moves without a capture — each player keeps the seeds left in their own row.
Winning
There are 48 seeds, so 25 wins. If it ends 24–24, it is a draw. In Naija Life each move has a 20-second clock.
Ayo tips
- Count before you lift: the number of seeds tells you exactly where the last one lands.
- A pit with one or two seeds in their row is a target — one more seed makes it two or three.
- Build up a big pit on your side. A pit with twelve or more seeds goes all the way round and can set up a chain capture.
- Watch your own ones and twos — they are your opponent’s targets too.
Ayo is a game of skill, so besides the free table it has staked tables of in-game naira, from ₦500 to ₦50,000. Try the practice Coach first.
Questions people ask
How many seeds are in Ayo?
48: four in each of the twelve pits.
How do you capture in Ayo?
When your last seed lands in your opponent’s row and makes two or three, take them, plus any pits just before it in their row that also hold two or three.
How many seeds do you need to win Ayo?
25, more than half of the 48. A 24–24 finish is a draw.
Which direction do you sow in Ayo?
Anticlockwise, skipping the pit you lifted from if you go all the way round.
Is Ayo the same as oware?
They are close cousins in the mancala family; Ayo Olopon is the Yoruba version, with captures of two or three seeds.
Where can I play Ayo online?
In the Games app in Naija Life, free on the web, Android and iPhone, against real players or the practice Coach.