App Detail » Abalinio

Published by: Arthur Roolfs

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Price: $2.99
Current Version: 2.2.0
Released: October 10, 2010

What's New

Version 2.2.0 adds improved iOS 10 compatibility.

App Description

Abalinio is based on one of the old African Mancala games which have been around for hundreds of years. The name Abalinio is derived of the Spanish Abalón (Pearl). Like in chess and similar board games players take turns. To win one must push 6 of the opponent's game pieces off the board.

Abalinio features a hexagonal board which allows game pieces to move in 6 directions. A very basic move consists of two actions - tapping the game piece once to highlight it and then tapping an adjacent field or game piece to indicate the move's direction. A player can move up to 3 balls which in turn can push up to 2 of the opponents balls. In order to move the opponent's game pieces one must have the higher line strength - i.e. 3 balls can push 2. So-called fliche moves are also supported. These can only be executed into empty fields.

In Settings you have the choice between two basic styles for Abalinio - the standard style and the split configuration shown above. Furthermore there are three difficulty settings. The game's AI is pretty strong, so you might want to start out with an easy settings. Also available here is a preference for which color stones you'd like to use. Remember - in this game orange gets the first move. Last but not least, you can turn off the sound for this game with the Sound switch.

Abalinio is deceptive in its simplicity and one is well advised to keep the goal of the game in mind. It is easy to start out with a lead and still lose in a matter of a couple of moves. Give it a try. Abalinio is a marvellous strategy game and a great way to pass time.

Features
- Fully animated game play
- Illustrated game rules
- Interface sounds
- Color preference
- Split or regular styles
- Undo last move
- 3 degrees of difficulty
- Support for fliche moves

For more screenshots and several videos of the application in action, please visit the website indicated below.