Shisima

Opening Position

Alternate Names

A game known as Rota from the Roman Empire was played on an octagonal board like the Shisima board and probably also used three counters per player.

No. of Players

Two

Equipment

The equipment required is a Shisima board and three each of black and white counters, called imbalavali, which translates as “water bugs”.

History

This game is played by children of the Tiriki tribe in Kenya and in parts of South India. Its simplicity means that it may indeed be a very ancient game. A board game from the Roman Empire, sometimes described as Rota, may just be a different name for an older version of this game. They may have both been discovered independently or may have a common acestor and spread geographically over time. It should also be noted, however, that the Rota board may just be a different board variation for the game then known as Terni Lapilli (Three Little Stones). Terni Lapilli seems to normally be played on a topologically equivalent square board. It is described here under Three Men's Morris. Note that an octagonal board shape used for a row formation game offers less places to form said rows than a square one.

Objective

A player wins the game by attaining three friendly counters in a straight line. There are four positions on the board in which this is possible.

Play

The game commences with counters positioned at intersections as above. After deciding which player will go first, alternate turns entail the move of single counter of your own color along a line to any adjacent vacant intersection. There is no jumping or capturing. There are no rules prohibiting the first move to the center.

Strategy

Variations

Sources

1. Shisima at Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shisima