Analysis of Card and Board Games

I was so happy when I saw one of the games for this week was Mancala. This has long been one of my favorite games despite its simplicity. It is an age old game where there is a board with two large pits, one at each end, then two rows of smaller pits, six on each side. There are different variations of play, but I will describe the one with which I am most familiar. To begin, each of the twelve side pits gets four stones, or marbles. Each player has one of the larger pits, the Mancala cup, where their captures stones are placed. One player chooses a pit from their side of the board and places them one by one into all of the pits, including your own Mancala cup. When the last stone goes into an empty cup, it is the next person's turn. Each player alternates until all the stones are in one of the two Mancala cups. The player with the most stones wins. The game can also be played where after the last stone is placed in an empty pit, that player takes the stones of the opposite cup and puts them into his or her own Mancala cup. If playing that way, the game ends when one side of the board is clear and the person with the most stones in his or her own Mancala cup wins. This is the way the online version plays.

Comparison of Game Components:

My definition of games is: an organized social experience where players follow specific, predetermined rules to meet a common end goal. During the experience there can be teamwork or conflict as the participants play and entertain themselves. In both the online and board versions there are predetermined rules, despite which variation you play. The social aspect is different. In the online version, you can play against the computer or against another player. The social aspect is stronger in the board version where another person is very necessary to have fun, which brings me to the entertainment portion. I did not play the online version with another person (my husband couldn't understand why we just couldn't play with the game board that was right in front of us haha), so I don't know how entertaining that is, but I do find the board game version very entertaining with another person. Both games have the same common end goal of trying to get the most stones to be the winner, so that is the same.

Comparison of Interaction:

In both the online and board versions, another person is necessary to play the two player game, so the interaction is really the same. The physical interaction changes between the game pieces (stones) or the computer mouse, but that is the biggest difference. I think that the set up of playing on the computer instead of playing face to face changes the cooperation because you are no longer facing one another, but the computer screen, so it makes it less personal. I think distraction is more likely playing on the computer because it is so easy to move to a different website or start talking to someone on the computer, but that is not as likely to happen when players are facing one another playing with the board version. Motivation might be stronger to play online because it is easy to just get on the website and start playing. There is no set up time or equipment. I think that choosing a version depends on the mood or current needs of the players. There are advantages to both versions and I like to play Mancala however it come.