Hyena

Spiraling Hyena Board

Alternate Names

Li'b el Marafib in its native language translates as "The Hyena Game".

No. of Players

Four

Equipment

A Hyena board, which is traditionally drawn in the sand, a distinctive counter for each player, a single hyena counter, and three half-cylinder binary dice are required for play. There is no standard for the size of the board and each of the square cells of the board are said to represent a single day. The first cell of the spiral is the village and the central cell is the well. Each player’s single counter is said to represent that player's mother.

History

Hyena is a race game of the Baggara Arabs of Sudan typically played by children. The spiraling shape of its board is somewhat suggestive of an ancient Egyptian game called Mehen and it is a possible descendant of it.

Objective

The first player to return their mother to the village becomes both the hyena and the winner, but the game continues on after that. Then, the hyena attempts to capture and eat any slower player's mothers who are still on the board.

Play

Each player starts with their mother in the village, the cell at the start of the spiral at the top left of the board. The order the player's turns is decided first. Alternate turns entail a throw of all three of the binary dice. The same player continues throwing the dice on their turn until they throw yômên, or a two flat sides up. When throwing yômên they move their mother the required two cells forward and then pass the dice to the next player. A throw a tâba, or one flat side up, must be thrown by a player before their mother can leave the village and start progressing through the spiral track.

After a player's mother has left the village she moves forward according to the amounts shown in the chart. She does not move forward for a throw of tâba, but a player makes note whenever they have thrown a tâba, as they can use these throws as a form of payment to their credit later in the game. A mother must reach the well exactly and a throw that sends her past it is disregarded. However, if she comes within one cell of the well a throw of tâba will allow her to arrive there. This tâba throw can be one currently thrown or one that had been credited to the player from earlier. Four different throws tâba are required from each player in order for their mother to leave the well and begin the journey back to the village. These four tâbas represent water she uses to drink and wash her clothes. If a player whose mother has arrived at the well does not immediately have enough tâbas required for their mother to begin the return journey, they may make note of and use later any throws of sêta, yômên or rabî thrown in the meanwhile.

The returning mother need not arrive at the village by exact throw and the first player who does so wins the game and becomes the hyena. Unless the last throw of the winning player was a yômên, which always ends a player's turn, the winner then begins throwing as the hyena on that same turn. The hyena starts at the village and is able to leave the village upon payment of two tâbas. The hyena, however, moves at twice the rate of a mother for each throw: twelve for sêta, eight for rabî, and four for yômên, which still ends the player's turn. Once the hyena has arrived at the well, he is required to pay ten tâbas to drink, leave and begin the return journey back. The hyena must drink before he can eat. He continues to move at double rates on the return journey and captures and eats any mother that he lands on or overtakes. As if the horrors of having one's mother eaten by a hyena were not painful enough, players who lose their mother in such a way are mocked and made fun of by the other players.

Variations

Shing kun t'o

The Royal Game of Goose, also known as The Game of the Goose or The Goose Game