Dara

In Nigeria, the Dakarkari people have played this two-player board game for generations. It's also played by the Zarma in Niger, who call it "Dili." The objective is to form three-in-row patterns on the board, allowing you to remove an opponent's peg. It's a familiar goal, but with 12 pegs for each player, and 42 possible positions, many challenging strategies can be discovered. All moves are orthogonal, and there are restrictions on positioning pieces that add to the challenge. (The Dara board can also be used to play Fanorona.)