Mancala

Mancala is a family of classic board game that involves moving stones or marbles around several pits. It is one of the oldest known games that is still played today. This fully-functional Lego mancala set features six pits (plus a "store") for each player, and 48 Lego "studs" to use as marbles.

I've grown to like mancala because though the game (or the variation I learned) is easy-to-learn with very few rules, it still allows for a great deal of strategy. Having made my own mancala board out of wood, I thought it would be fun to design a playable set out of Lego. Plus, something I appreciate about Lego is that it can be used to build things that are fully usable, and I think board games are a good example of this.

I think this would make a great set because like Lego, mancala is something that appeals to people of all ages. It's generally simple rules mean that even kids can learn to play it easily, while the surprisingly in-depth strategy makes it fun even for adults. Plus, the game's rich history and many variations make it perfect for something as creative as Lego.

Here is a pretty typical example of how to play mancala that will work on this Lego set:

This design was modeled in BrickLink Studio, and has 303 pieces.

I was going for a classic/elegant look, and am especially fond of the gold "hinges":

The board also clips shut: