What you need

Ayo is played on a board of two rows of six pits, with four seeds in every pit to start: forty-eight seeds in all. Each player owns the row nearest to them.

Sowing

On your turn, lift every seed from one of your pits and drop them one at a time into the following pits, going counter-clockwise round the board. If you lift twelve or more, you skip the pit you started from.

Capturing

If your last seed lands in your opponent’s pit and brings it to exactly two or three seeds, you capture them. Then look at the pit before it: if that one also holds two or three, capture it too, and keep going back along their row.

Do not starve your opponent

If your opponent has no seeds, you must give them some if you can. A move that would capture every one of their seeds captures nothing instead.

Winning

Collect 25 seeds to win. If both players end with 24, it is a draw.

Tips

Count before you lift: know exactly where your last seed will land. Keep a big pit growing on your side for a long, surprising sow later. Watch your opponent’s pits that hold one or two seeds, because those are your capture chances.