Bao - Bao la Kiswahili
The Real Tournament Rules
Only for iPhone
Free · In‑App Purchases
iPhone
The only Bao app that implements the FULL tournament ruleset — namua, mtaji, kichwa, nyumba, safari, takasia — verified against millions of test moves.
Bao la Kiswahili is one of the most complex games in the mancala family — a two-phase strategy game of the Swahili coast (Tanzania, Kenya, Zanzibar) played on a 4×8-pit board. This app implements the REAL tournament ruleset, not the simplified "Sungura" variant most Bao apps ship.
WHY THIS APP IS DIFFERENT
Most Bao apps on the App Store implement a simplified variant, and the one existing dedicated competitor was reported by a reviewer as unplayable due to a broken capture mechanic. This app's entire reason for existing is getting the real rules right:
• Namua — the opening placement phase, where seeding your own board can trigger mandatory captures before the main game even begins
• Mtaji — directional relay-sowing with real capture chains
• Kichwa — the "head" pits that force or offer a direction when a capture chain resumes
• Nyumba — the accumulating "house" pit, its 2-seed taxation rule, and the optional "safari" continuation
• Takasia — the fairness rule that stops a player from being capture-stripped down to zero legal moves
Every one of these mechanics was cross-checked against an independently written reference engine across millions of simulated moves for correctness — not just playtested and hoped for.
FEATURES
• Full tournament ruleset — namua, mtaji, nyumba/safari, kichwa capture resumption, and the takasia fairness rule, all correctly implemented
• Real AI opponent at 3 difficulty levels — Easy is free forever
• Local 2-player pass-and-play — no account, no internet needed
• Fully offline — no ads, no tracking, no analytics, no network requests at all
• Bilingual — full English and Kiswahili interface, including onboarding and an in-app glossary of Bao's own terms (nyumba, mtaji, namua, kichwa, takasia, safari) explained rather than translated away
• One-time purchase, no subscription — pay once for Hard AI + Play vs Friend, keep it forever
Whether you grew up playing Bao on the Swahili coast or you're discovering one of the deepest games in the mancala family for the first time, this app gives you the rules as they're actually played — not a simplified stand-in.
Ratings & Reviews
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The developer, Quyen Ngo, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Quyen Ngo
- Size
- 597 KB
- Category
- Board
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English and Swahili
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Bao Pro $2.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Quyen Ngo
