Kisolo

Kisolo (also spelled Chisolo) is a traditional mancala game played by the Luba, Lulua and Songye peoples of DR Congo and Zimbabwe. It is closely related to other East African mancalas such as Bao, Bao Kiarabu, Coro and Isolo.

The board used to play Kisolo is usually 4x7, i.e., 4 rows of 7 pits each, although there are also Kisolo boards that have 6 pits per row. At game setup, 3 seeds are placed in each pit. Traditionally, seeds from the ngola tree (Pictantus makombo) or the menga tree (Canarium schweinfurtii) are used.