Five Boards: African Strategy

Five Boards is a collection of five traditional African strategy board games: Fanorona, Morabaraba, Dara, Shisima and Achi. Learn each game with guided lessons, then play offline against the computer or with a friend on one device.

These are abstract strategy games with generations of play behind them, taught clearly and played by documented rules.

FIVE AFRICAN BOARD GAMES

• Fanorona (Madagascar): a deep capture game. Take pieces by approach or withdrawal and chain captures across the board.
• Morabaraba (Southern Africa): a mill game in the same family as nine men's morris. Line up three in a row to remove an opponent's piece.
• Dara (West Africa): place your pieces, then slide them into rows of three to capture.
• Shisima (Kenya): a fast three-in-a-row race around an eight-sided board.
• Achi (Ghana): quick to learn, like tic-tac-toe with pieces that move.

LEARN AS YOU PLAY

New to these games? Guided lessons, clear turn prompts and legal-move hints teach every board, and each game's rules and sources are documented inside the app.

PLAY YOUR WAY

• Play solo against a computer opponent
• Choose from multiple difficulty levels
• Two players on one device with pass-and-play
• Continue saved solo matches
• Track your wins and records on every board

OFFLINE AND SIMPLE

All five board games work offline. No account, no sign-up and no chat. Large touch targets, non-colour piece cues, screen-reader labels and reduced-motion support make the boards comfortable to play.

Five Boards is for players who enjoy chess, checkers, draughts, mancala or nine men's morris and want to discover classic strategy games they have not played before.

Five Boards does not include online multiplayer, chat, user-generated content, or social tracking.