Mancala's Eco-Conscious Game Design: Which, if any, Qualities of Mancala Bao la Kiswahili Contain Eco-Conscious Qualities Suitable for Adapting into New Games?

Abstract

This thesis asks whether mancala, specifically Bao la Kiswahili, contains eco-conscious qualities suitable for adapting into new games. It analyzes Bao's mechanical, cultural and artistic qualities by drawing on de Voogt's studies of Bao, Graeber and Wengrow's notion of custodianship and Kimmerer's framework of reciprocity. The game's sowing cycles, recursive loops, communal ownership and ageing boards are shown to enact reciprocity and regeneration rather than extraction. These findings are abstracted into an eight-principle design framework: cycles, long-termism, tactile affordances, non-human embodiment, materiality, community, ethical constraints and ritual, in order to guide future eco-conscious game design.