Layli Goobalay (literally “closing the holes”) is a traditional mancala game played in Somalia. The board is typically dug in the ground, and pieces are traditionally dried camel dung called salo. Players sow seeds around the board, capturing opponents’ seeds through strategic play. The player who captures the most seeds wins.
Components
1 board with 2 parallel rows of 12 holes each (24 holes total)
96 seeds (4 seeds per hole at start)
Setup
Place 4 seeds in each of the 24 holes. Each player controls the 12 holes on their side of the board.
Turn Structure
Players alternate turns. On your turn:
Choose one of your non-empty holes.
Pick up all seeds from that hole.
Distribute seeds one at a time clockwise into consecutive holes.
Relay sowing: If the last seed lands in a hole containing other seeds, pick up all seeds from that hole and continue sowing.
If the last seed lands in an empty hole, your turn ends.
Actions
Sowing
Pick up all seeds from a chosen hole on your side.
Drop one seed per hole, moving clockwise around the board.
Continue relay sowing whenever the last seed falls into an occupied hole.
Capturing
When the last seed of a sowing turn lands in an empty hole, and the opposite hole on the opponent’s side contains seeds, capture those seeds.
Additional captures may chain if consecutive holes in the opponent’s row (moving backwards from the capture point) also meet capture conditions.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
The game ends when one player can no longer move (has no seeds in any of their holes).
The opponent captures all remaining seeds on the board, including seeds in their uurs (owned holes).
The player who captured the most seeds wins.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
Uur (owned holes): Players can own holes on the opponent’s row through capture. These become “closed” and seeds in them belong to the owner.
Direction: Seeds are always sowed clockwise.
Grand slam restriction: In some regional variants, capturing all of an opponent’s seeds in a single turn is not allowed; the turn is forfeited instead.
Board variations: A shorter board variant uses 2 rows of 6 holes instead of 12.