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Game Time: Mola
Here is an ancient Roman board game that I have taught my students – and they take to it with great enthusiasm! The game is called Mola, it is an ancient Roman board game that infuses strategy from several different games. It is part Tic-Tac-Toe, part Chess, and part Connect Four.
Materials
You will need the game board (which you can download here) and 9 tokens for each team (which you can download here or just simply find some old checkers, glass beads or whatever to make up your tokens). That’s it, you’re ready to play!
Rules
The game has three phases: placement, removal and capture play.
Placement is the first phase. There are two teams and each team must alternate staging their pieces. Nota Bene: the object here is to place your pieces strategically so you can eliminate your opponent swiftly and efficiently. Your object here, too, is to get three pieces in a row so that when the 2nd phase begins, you eliminate as many of your opponents pieces as you can (before you start the third and final phase).
Removal: as described above, after both teams have completed placing their nine pieces for each team, they are to inspect to see how many times they got three of their own pieces in a row (this is called a mola or “millstone”). The players are to then remove one of their opponent’s pieces for each mola they laid down – they are to do this in an alternating fashion, as well, until every mola was accounted for.
Capture play: This is where the game truly begins. Now, all your strategies must come to light in order to eliminate your opponent. Again, the goal is to remove all your opponents pieces by obtaining a mola. Each time a mola is achieved, an opposing player’s piece is removed. Once this has been done until a player only has 2 pieces left, the game is over (you need at least three pieces to create a mola).
Addendum: You are not allowed to keep sliding a piece back and forth between the same spot to get a mola.
Well, those are the rules of the game! Practice and enjoy! Comment here if you develop any interesting strategies!
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