How to Play Mhele
A Botswana strategy game from the wider Southern African morabaraba tradition. Each side has 12 cows. The goal is to reduce your opponent to fewer than 3 cows, or leave them with no legal move.
1. Placing phase
Players take turns placing one cow at a time on any empty point of the board until all 24 cows are on. Forming a mill (three of your cows in a row along a line — including the diagonals) lets you remove one opponent cow.
2. Moving phase
Once every cow is placed, take turns sliding one of your cows along a line to an adjacent empty point. Forming a new mill again lets you capture an opponent cow.
3. Flying phase
When you're reduced to exactly 3 cows, you may "fly" — move a cow to any empty point on the board.
Mills & captures
A mill is three cows in a straight line: rows, columns, or one of the four diagonals. After forming a mill, you must remove one opponent cow. You cannot capture a cow that is part of a mill unless every opposing cow is in a mill.
Winning
You win if your opponent is reduced to fewer than 3 cows, or if it's their turn and they have no legal move.
Draws
The game is a draw if the same board position occurs three times, or if 100 completed moves pass without a capture.