African game board is commonly known as ayo by the yorubas and nchorokoto by the igbos. It is made of wood and fairly rectangular. It has twelve circular carved out pockets arranged in two rows, six pockets in each row .It is played with 48 pellets, the Pellets are distributed among the 12 circular pockets,making it 4 Pellets per hole.It is played mainly by two people, each owning 6 pockets at one side of the artifact.

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HOW IT IS PLAYED

The 4 Pellets from a hole is packed and clockwisely distributed one per hole in the other pockets,until the last pellet is dropped in a pocket without any pellet.if the player is short of pellet and the pocket reached as at that time is not empty, the player will pack the pellets in that hole and continue distributing,one at a time. If any of the pellets complete four while distributing,the player on whose side the pellet is will take it as his victory, and the player can win his opponents pallet if he is left with one pellet while distributing, and stops at a pocket with three pellets in the opponents side.The winner is decided by he that wins all the pellets.

MORAL LESSONS FROM AYO GAME

SOWING

The pellets used in playing Ayo game is sometimes referred to as seed, one has to distribute his seed to create chance of winning, you have to make a move and spread the seeds, both in your pockets and that of your opponent . This also happens in real life,we all have talents given to us by the creator,keeping this talent to yourself will fetch you nothing, you have to distribute it to those you can reach, you must give something out to make it in life.

CALCULATE

To win this game,one has to be calculative and use strategies, you don't just make moves without calculating what the result will be or where you will end up. This is something that can help us in our real life struggles,don't just wake up and make decisions, think before you act,listen before you speak and make a preview before you make choices.

NEVER GIVE UP

There are several times I have won Ayo game, after loosing two to three of my pockets and pellets to my opponents. I fought to the end,recovered what I lost and more.
Don't give up too easily, failure is sometimes just a step to success, you don't have to own the whole world before your impact can be felt,use what you have rightly and those things you want will come by.

ALWAYS BE PREPARED AND AT WATCH

In Ayo game,your pellets can be taken by your opponents if you aren't guided, you have to be conscious of pellets to know when and where to build. It's not all about how you can give blows but also how you can avoid a blow, you should be able to predict the moves your opponent will likely take and know how to act accordingly. This tip is also applicable for a business man with opponents always in watch for ways to bring him down. If you are always at alert and watch your back,you will not fall prey.

I hope you learnt something, now share with me the moral lessons you got from any game.