Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Simple yet tactical, Qawale will rock your idea of strategy games. Lay stones on the path and try to line up four stones in your color.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Grid Movement
Move pieces between adjacent spaces on a regular grid.
Pattern Building
Place elements to create arrangements that satisfy scoring or action patterns.
Grid Coverage
Place pieces to cover required cells or patterns on a grid.
Layering
Place components over earlier pieces so their order and overlap affect play.
Mancala
Move groups of pieces by distributing them one at a time across spaces.
Read the full game description
Simple yet tactical, Qawale will rock your idea of strategy games. Lay stones on the path and try to line up four stones in your color. Qawale is inspired by the tradition of stacking stones along trails and paths in nature. As you drop these stones along your path, this incredible game will transport you to a place where strategy and nature come together. Each player takes 8 stones in their color. The third color is neutral and is placed in the 4 corners of the board. On your turn, add a stone on top of any pile and move it. When moving a pile, you must leave a stone on each space you cross. The first player to get 4 of their stones in a row, looking at the board from above, wins the game.