Gala

In 1852, the Dutch linguist Benjamin Frederick Matthes met Princess Colliq Pujié Arung Pancana Toa, daughter of the King on the Island of Celebes. Professor Matthes and the Princess collaborated for many years, resulting in a book on the local culture in 1859, and in that book he recorded the board game they called Gala.

The traditional board has markings on five of the spaces (corners and center), but they don’t have any significance in playing Gala. It’s a two-phase strategy game, the first phase taking turns at setting up the board. There are two different ways to play out the second phase: In one version, the objective is to trap the opponent so they cannot make a move. The other version includes capturing the enemy pegs by surrounding them on two opposite sides. Plenty of re-playability in this game from the South Pacific islands.

Made in the USA for 2 players ages 8+.