Board games
Oware
- players
- 2
- minutes
- 30
- years
- 10+
In the box
1 board of 12 pits · 48 seeds
Box details
- Origin
- Traditional game, with no specific designer or publisher
- Mechanics
- Sowing
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
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The basics
Capture more than half the seeds: 25 out of 48. On your turn, take all the seeds from one of your houses and sow them one by one anticlockwise; if the last one lands in an opponent's house that then holds two or three seeds, you capture them, along with the previous houses in the same situation. The first to 25 seeds wins; at 24 each, the game is a draw.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
12 houses, 6 per player, 4 seeds per house
- A board of twelve houses, six per player, with four seeds in each.
- Each player owns the row in front of them.
- Draw lots to decide who starts.
How to play
Sow anticlockwise, Capture 2 or 3 seeds, Starvation rule
- You take all the seeds from one of your houses and sow them one by one into the following houses, anticlockwise.
- With more than eleven seeds, you go round the board more than once: the starting house is then skipped and stays empty.
- If the last seed lands in an opponent's house that then holds two or three seeds, you capture them.
- You also capture the previous houses, working backwards, as long as they hold two or three seeds and are on your opponent's side.
- If your opponent has no seeds left at all, you must play a move that gives them some, whenever such a move exists: this is the starvation rule.
- A move that would capture all your opponent's seeds is also forbidden: you must always leave them able to play.
Scoring
1 seed = 1 point, 48 seeds in all
- A captured seed is worth one point. There are 48 seeds in all.
- The first to 25 seeds has won: the majority is secured.
End of the game
First to 25 seeds, 24 each: draw
- The game ends as soon as a player reaches 25 seeds.
- If your opponent has no seeds and no move can feed them, you capture all the remaining seeds, and the game ends.
- The player with more seeds wins; at 24 each, the game is a draw.
House rules and pitfalls
Starving your opponent is forbidden: a move must always leave them something to play on the next turn.
- Starving your opponent is forbidden: a move must always leave them something to play on the next turn.
- Rules vary from region to region and from one edition to another. The move that would sweep up the opponent's whole side, forbidden here, is elsewhere played without capturing anything, or its capture is limited so as to leave at least one of the opponent's houses untouched.
- Some editions also capture, house by house on both sides of the last one, the opponent's houses holding one or two seeds.
Going further
Variants · Frequently asked questions · Rules on video · In the same family
Variants
Game to
25 seeds (majority)
20 seeds (short game)
You stop before the majority: the technical endgames are skipped.
Starvation rule
Must feed
A move must always leave your opponent something to play. This is the tournament rule.
Starving allowed
Street variant: you may starve your opponent, who then misses their turn.
choose them when you start a game: the scorer adapts
Frequently asked questions
When do you capture seeds?
When the last seed sown lands in an opponent's house that then holds two or three seeds. You capture that house, then the previous ones working backwards, as long as they meet the same condition and are on your opponent's side.
Can you starve your opponent?
No. If your opponent has no seeds left, you must play a move that gives them some. No such move possible? The game ends, and the player who cannot feed them takes all the remaining seeds, which are on their own side.
What happens with a house of twelve seeds or more?
You go round the board more than once, and the starting house is skipped: it stays empty at the end of the sowing.
Do you sow in your own houses?
Yes, the sowing goes all the way round the board, anticlockwise. But you only capture on your opponent's side.
Who wins, and with how many?
The first to 25 seeds out of 48: the majority is secured and the game ends. At 24 each, the game is a draw.
Can the game go round in circles?
Yes. When the same positions keep coming back endlessly, the players may agree to stop: each player then takes the seeds on their side of the board.
Rules on video
Videos in French, hosted on YouTube.