Kenya’s communities have passed down games for generations, using them to teach strategy, spark competition and bring people together.
When you look at the types of indigenous board games in Kenya, you find a mix of sowing-and-capturing games and simple yet clever movement-based challenges.
These traditional games vary from region to region, each carrying stories, skills and cultural memory. This post introduces the main ones, how they work and why they remain such an enduring part of local play.
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Table of Contents
Types of Indigenous Board Games in Kenya #1: Bao (East-African mancala)
Bao is the best-known traditional board game along the Swahili coast (Kenya’s coast, Zanzibar and coastal islands). It’s a complex mancala (sowing/capturing) game played on a 4×8 board with many local variants — for example a more complex “Bao la kiswahili” and simpler beginner versions. Play centers on sowing seeds (counters) round the pits, capturing and building tactical sequences; mastery is highly respected in coastal communities. Bao is still played socially and in local tournaments in East African coastal towns.
Kenya Traditional Games #2. Isolo / Insolo (Large-scale Mancala Variants With Regional Names)
Variants of large mancala games (called Isolo, Insolo, Nsala and related names in different areas) are known across East Africa.
They share the core sow-and-capture mechanics with Bao but differ in board size, setup and local rules.
These versions are popular among some inland and cross-border communities and show how widespread the mancala tradition is across the region.
Indigenous Board Games Played In Kenya #3. Shisima (Kenyan Three-in-a-row / Movement Strategy)
Shisima is an abstract two-player strategy game widely identified with Kenya.
The board is an octagon with radial lines (9 intersection points).
Each player has three pieces and pieces are moved along lines; the object is to make a straight three-in-a-row (with one of the positions being the central point).
It’s often described as a Kenyan cousin of three-men’s-morris / tic-tac-toe variants but with movement rather than simple placement.
4) Related East African Mancala Games (Regional Cousins)
Games such as Omweso (Uganda) and other regional mancala relatives share equipment and tactics with Bao and Isolo.
While some of these are better documented outside Kenya, they influence play styles and rules along border and coastal communities, and sometimes Kenyan players use local names or hybrid rule sets.
What’s Distinctive About Indigenous Kenyan Board Games
- Coastal Swahili areas (Mombasa, Lamu and other islands/coastal towns) are the stronghold of Bao — boards, local masters, and social play are common there.
- Inland communities use different mancala variants or local movement games (like Shisima) depending on ethnic and linguistic traditions.
Quick Notes On How To Try Them
- Bao: start with the simplified/beginner version (many tutorials and community players will teach the “namua” phase and basic sowing rules).
- Shisima: easy to set up on paper or with beads — three pieces each, play to get three-in-a-row through the central point.
- Look for cultural centres, coastal cafés, or community events in Kenyan towns (especially on the coast) to find players and boards in person.
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More on Bao
Bao is an ancient mancala board game played by the Swahili community in Kenya and Tanzania.
Bao is the Swahili word for board or board game.
A person who masters bao well is referred to as bingwa (master) or fundi (technician).
Bao is still popular today at the Kenyan coast, especially in Lamu, where bao tournaments are held regularly.
These bao tournaments may not be popular enough to get listed on platforms such as Betway, but they attract considerable attention.
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Bao usually attracts scholars because of the strategic and complex thinking required to win the game.
Scholars of disciplines such as psychology, complexity theory, and game theory are fascinated by bao.
Kenyan communities, other than the Swahili, also have their own versions of bao, including the Turkana, Luhya, Luo, and Samburu.
