Morabaraba | Tribal

Designed and crafted by talented South African artisans, this Morabaraba set blends traditional gameplay with exceptional craftsmanship.

The board features a hand-designed polystone frame depicting intricate African scenes and wildlife, while the playing pieces - representing tribal figures - are hand-cast from polystone and painted using Windsor & Newton oil paints.

• Inspired by “Umlabalaba,” a traditional African variant of “Twelve Men’s Morris”.

• Hand-sculpted polystone pieces, intricately painted by local artists.

• Durable wooden board, hand-cut and encased in a custom-moulded polystone frame.

• Board size: 25cm diameter.

How to play Morabaraba

Objective: 

The goal of Morabaraba is to capture your opponent's "cows" (pieces) by forming rows of three (called “mills”) and reducing your opponent to two cows or blocking all their moves.

Setup:

The board consists of three concentric squares connected by lines, with 24 intersections (points).

Each player has 12 cows (pieces), traditionally differentiated by colour or shape.

Game phases:

Placing Phase

• Players take turns placing one cow at a time on any empty point.

• Forming a mill (a straight line of three cows) allows you to remove one of your opponent’s cows, as long as it’s not part of a mill (unless all are).

• Continue until all 24 cows are placed.

Moving Phase

• Players now take turns moving one cow at a time to an adjacent point along the lines.

• Forming a new mill allows another opponent cow to be removed.

Flying Phase (when a player has only 3 cows left)

• A player with three cows may “fly”—moving a cow to any empty point, not just adjacent ones.

You Win By:

Reducing your opponent to two cows, or blocking all their legal moves

Key Rules:

Only one cow can be placed or moved per turn.

You can’t remove a cow that’s part of a mill unless there are no other options.

A mill must be formed in one turn (you can't reuse the same three cows repeatedly without a new move in between).