relaxing games

In the traditional style of dakon, this board game is handcrafted of wood and decorated with traditional batik designs. Javanese artisan Diana Dewi invites you to play this classic Indonesian game. Each sawah (hole) is filled with five to seven stones and the game is played in turns. Similarly to mancala, each player collects the biji sawo (stones) from one hole and deposits them one-by-one into the following holes. The player scores a capture if the final stone is dropped into an empty hole. If that empty hole is on their own side, known as nembak, they capture the stones of the hole on the opposite side, depositing them into their "rice bowl." If the empty hole is on their opponent's side and each adjacent hole contains an equal number of stones, known as mikul, then the player captures the stones from each adjacent hole, as well as the final stone from their previous hand.

Resembling traffic lights, bold, colorful dots are painted by hand onto each of these four dice, hand-carved from raintree wood. By Thai artisan Waraporn Khamsuk, the dice arrive with a slotted wood box wrapped with red nylon cord. The object of this puzzle is to arrange the dice so that each color is visible only once on each side.

Ketut Sandi of Bali designs a backgammon set handcrafted out of beautiful cempaka wood. The exterior of the carrying case, which opens into the game board, is carved with a lovely floral motif, and has a handle for easy carrying and a latch to keep the case closed. The interior lays flat and displays a backgammon game board, and includes the playing pieces and dice.

Forming a hexagonal shape, 12 pieces are hand-carved from natural raintree wood. Waraporn Khamsuk creates this geometric puzzle for an elegant brain teaser to add to your home.

Spend enough time with any Mexican family and/or friends, and sooner or later you will find yourself playing dominoes. This set by the Sierra Family of Jalisco state, Mexico shows just how seriously Mexicans value the game. All 28 domino pieces, plus the storage box with detachable top, are carved from black marble.

Guatemalan artisan Julio Molina handcrafts a desktop soccer game out of pinewood. The green field is set with red and yellow pegs representing the players from each team, which are fixed into position. Two recycled wine cork discs serve as the soccer balls. Players take turns flicking the cork ball with their fingers toward their opponent's goal. The first player to score two goals wins.

The game that blends chance and skill in exciting ways, dominoes make a fun and decorative addition to your home with this set from Mexico. The talented artisans of the Sierra Family work with natural pink marble to create this set. Crafted by hand, the 28 pieces arrive within a storage box shaped like a large domino.

Using beautiful teak wood, Java's Widanti designs this captivating, stimulating puzzle. The Javanese artisan crafts the puzzle by hand, highlighting the wonder of the natural grain of teak wood. With its natural look, the handcarved block puzzle is a stunning, entertaining addition to any space, certain to delight.

Created by Waraporn Khamsuk of Thailand, this puzzle will make the perfect brain teaser for challenging your friends and family. Carved from raintree wood, this puzzle features one flat board with five geometric puzzle pieces. On one side of the board, the challenge is to fit all pieces inside. On the other side, the borders are much more constrained, so getting the pieces to fit perfectly can be challenging.

Instructions included.

The Javanese workshop of Widanti presents this mesmerizing puzzle that shows off the stunning natural grain of teak wood. This puzzle is intricately hand crafted from recycled wood and is sure to inspire awe.

An African elephant and a dog challenge each other in a friendly game of oware on a board designed with a practical handle. From Ernestina Oppong Asante, the oware board is carved by hand of seasoned sese wood and the game is played with 48 white marbles.

Oware is a game of skill and strategy designed for two players, challenging mental agility and alertness. The objective can be briefly described as 'counting and capturing beads' and there are no chance factors in it. The player's strategy entirely depends upon the ability for reasoning and counting.

Oware is one of the oldest games in the world. The earliest records describing the game were found in Arab religious texts dating to the Middle Ages, believing the game originated in the Middle East and spread from there to Africa, then to Asia with Arab traders, and to the Caribbean around 1640 via the African slave trade. Other experts place its origins in Central Africa; the Masai people state that oware was invented by Sindillo, the son of the first man, Maitoumbe, and was originally called "geshe."

In Arab countries, the most common name for this game is "mancala" (Arabic word meaning "to move"). In some West African countries the depressions in the board are referred to as "warri" or "wwari," which means houses, thus the name "owari." In Nigeria it is known as "adi," which is also the name of the seeds used to play it; and in South Africa it is called "ohoro." With different and exotic names such as "congklak," "dakon," "aggalacang" and "nogarata," it has also been played in Asia long before the Portuguese rounded the southern tip of Africa.

Today, oware represents the diversity of Africa, as some version of it is played in nearly every country on the continent. Legend relates that Shyaam aMbul aNgoong, founder of the Kuba kingdom of Central Africa, taught the game to his people to encourage foresight and calculation.

Having transcended the passing of the centuries, oware has been enjoyed as a family game, a ceremonial right of passage, or as a form of recreation among friends. It would be hard to find a greater challenge of mathematics, or a more attractive one.

Richly veined brown onyx contrasts handsomely with white, each color representing an opponent. The Sierra family crafts this mini chessboard and pieces from natural stone, polished to perfection. Small enough to fit in a backpack, handbag or beach tote, it is ideal for the amateur or aficionado.

Because each piece is sculpted individually, there may be slight variations in the color and pattern of the stone.