Warri is a fascinating game known by several names, such as wari (or owari), wao, awèlè, awela, ayo, aji, awari, oware, and ouri. It belongs to the pit-and-pebble family of games, which dates back around 3,500 years to Ancient Egypt, making it one of the oldest games still played today. The name “warri” translates to houses, and the goal of the game is to capture as many of your opponent’s houses as you can.
At its core, Warri is all about counting and strategy. Two players face each other on a long wooden board, which has twelve hollow pits. Each pit holds four seeds, often playfully called “horse-nicker” seeds. The main objective? To gather more than twenty-four of your opponent’s seeds. Don’t let the simplicity fool you, though! Winning requires a good deal of skill and smart decision-making—just like any classic board game.
This game has a rich history, originating from a group of Mancala games played by the Kush people over 3,500 years ago in what is now Sudan and the Upper Nile. It made its way to West Africa during the peak of the trans-Saharan trade and eventually ended up in places like Barbados and other parts of the Caribbean, thanks to West Africans who were brought there against their will.
Unfortunately, Warri faced a tough time under European colonization. The game was often looked down upon and, as a result, players took to hiding it. With such harsh repression in the Western world, folks didn’t see the point in crafting beautifully carved Warri boards—who would want a fancy board when it could be destroyed at any moment?