Awithlaknannai Mosona
Awithlaknannai Mosona is a two-player
The complete rules to the game were never fully described by Stewart Culin (as a note all rules from other sources may have been based on Stewart Culin's description), in particular, whether captures are compulsory, and whether multiple captures are allowed. However, Culin's book does state that on the first player's first turn, a piece is moved to the central point of the board (middle intersection point of the middle row), and is jumped by the second player's piece. The second player could have made another move instead of that capture which suggest that capturing is compulsory.
Goal
The person who captures all of their opponent's pieces is the winner. If no more captures can be done by either player, then the game is a draw, or alternatively, the player with the most pieces left on the board is the winner.
Equipment
There are two versions of the board perhaps due to the lack of clarity in Stewart Culin's diagram. The rules to both versions are the same. Both versions contain 25 intersection points. The middle row has 9 intersection points, and the two outer rows has 8 intersection points each. One version has lines missing between the intersection points of the outer rows. The other version has them.
Each player has 12 pieces. One player has the black pieces, and the other player has the white pieces.
Rules and gameplay
1. Players decide who will play the black pieces, and who will play the white pieces. They also decide who will start first.
2. Each players pieces are placed on the row nearest them, and on the right side of the middle row from the view of each player. Only the central point of the board is vacant at the start of the game. Throughout the game, pieces are played on the intersection points and moved along the lines connecting them. From here on, the intersection points will simply be called "points".
3. Players alternate their turns.
4. On a player's turn, one piece may be moved along a marked line onto a vacant adjacent point on the board. The first player's first move is to move a piece onto the central point since that is the only vacant point on the board at the beginning of the game.
5. Alternatively, a piece may leap over an adjacent enemy piece, and land on a vacant point immediately beyond. The leap need not be in a straight line as long as the leap follows the pattern on the board. The jumped piece is removed. Captures are compulsory. Multiple captures are allowed. In fact, a piece that can continue to jump must jump until it can jump no more.
6. If a player's piece has more than one capturing line, or if a player has more than one piece that can be used to capture enemy pieces, the player may choose any of these options.
7. The player who captures all of their opponent's pieces is the winner.
8. When no more captures can be made by either player, the game ends also. The game can be called a draw, or the player with the more pieces left on the board can be called the winner. It is up to the players how they should conclude this type of ending.
External links
- Culin, Stewart (1992). Games of the North American Indians: Games of skill. U of Nebraska Press. p. 801. ISBN 0-8032-6356-2.
- "Awithlaknannai Mosona". XTEC (in Catalan). Retrieved 2019-10-06.
- "Llibret /Alquerc". Wiki manqala.org (in Catalan). 2002-09-12. Archived from the original on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
- "Awithlaknannai Mosona". PerGioco.net (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-10-06.