Morabaraba

Morabaraba is Southern Africa's own board game. It is played on stones and in dust from Lesotho to the Free State, in taxi ranks and school yards, and it has been for generations. This is that game, built properly for your phone.

Each player has twelve cattle. Place them, move them, and line three in a row to form a mill. Every mill lets you shoot one of your opponent's cattle off the board. Take them down to two and you have won.

Simple to learn in a minute. Hard to put down.

── PLAY YOUR WAY ──

• Seven computer opponents, from Moshemane who teaches while you play, up to Setsomi who will not go easy on you

• Pass and play on one phone with a friend across the table

• Online matches against real players, with a live lobby and direct challenges

• Four rule sets: Traditional, Koti (Lesotho), and two custom variants

── SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY ──

• Daily puzzle: one position, one move, find the mill in two

• Lesotho Mountain Ascent: climb from Maseru Valley to Thabana Ntlenyana as you earn experience

• Achievements, streaks and a passport that stamps as you go

── PLAY THE WORLD ──

• Live leaderboards for every rule set, with proper Glicko ratings

• Tournaments with brackets and invitations

• Follow other players, message them, and talk in the lobby

• Head to head records against everyone you have played

── BUILT FOR EVERYONE ──

• Colour blind friendly piece shapes

• Threat warnings that tell you when a move hands over a mill

• Move confirmation, so a mis-tap costs you nothing

• Reduced motion honoured from your device settings

• Legal move markers and board coordinates you can switch on

• Screen reader support throughout

── IN YOUR LANGUAGE ──

English, Sesotho and isiZulu.

── ABOUT THE GAME ──

Morabaraba is known as Twelve Men's Morris in English, and it belongs to the same family as Nine Men's Morris and the mill games played across the world. The Southern African version is its own thing: twelve cattle instead of nine men, a centre point on the Koti board, and the word "shoot" for taking a cow.

Free to play. Requires Android 8.0 or later.

Play on the web too at morabaraba.co.za, against the same players.