Dara (game)
Dara is a two-player abstract strategy board game played in several countries of West Africa. In Nigeria it is played by the Dakarkari people. It is popular in Niger among the Zarma, who call it dili, and it is also played in Burkina Faso. In the Hausa language (Niger and Nigeria), the game is called doki which means horse. It is an alignment game related to tic-tac-toe, but far more complex. The game was invented in the 19th century or earlier. The game is also known as derrah and is very similar to Wali and  . Goal. To form three-in-a-rows, and eliminate enough of your opponent's pieces so that they can no longer form three-in-a-rows. Equipment. The board is a 5x6 square board. Each player has 12 pieces. One player plays Black and the other plays White, however, any two colors will do. In Niger, people simply dig out 30 holes in the sand; one side takes doum nuts, the other short sticks. Game play and rules. Three-in-a-rows made during the Drop phase do not count. Therefore, a player cannot remove another player's stone  during the Drop phase even if one were to make a three-in-a-row. (In Niger, it is not allowed to make a three-in-a-row during the Drop phase.) Moreover, the rule that four or more pieces in a row are illegal to form also applies in the Drop phase. If a player were to successfully form two three-in-a-rows "in one move" during the Move phase, only one enemy piece can be removed.