The equipment or apparatus for playing the game consists of a carved wood of about 2 feet long, 8 inches wide and about 4 inches deep. Into this piece of wood is carved two rows of holes, six on each side and two larger holes at the ends. Each of the twelve holes contains four "seeds" at the start of play. You could improvise with cardboards. Click the thumbnail diagram above to see a the bigger picture of the Ayo board. Click also the picture below to see two Ayo players in action.

Holes could be made on the ground and pieces of stones used as seeds. This is how children learn to play. But it is neater to make the "holes" from card boards. Nowadays, boards are manufactured from plastic and sold in shops and markets.

The game is for two players at a time. In some versions of play each player may have one or two advisers who advice on strategy in whispers, but they are not allowed to touch the seeds or the board. In very strictly competitive games, advisers are not allowed.

The objective of the play is for each player to endeavour to capture the seeds of the opponent and render him unable to continue the game. The large hole on the right belongs to a player and it is meant for storing the captured seeds. It is called Odu, meaning treasury.

A player starts by spreading the seeds from any hole on his side sequentially into other holes including those of his opponent. In the course of play when your spread seeds land in any hole on your opponent’s side and cause the number of seeds there to increase to two, three or four seeds, you can capture all of your opponent’s seeds in those holes. You cannot capture single seeds or seeds above four in number. The game ends when your opponent is unable to continue.

The thumbnail image at the top left represents the Ayo board, while the picture on the right  is a snapshot of some Nigerians at play. Click the thumbnails to see the larger versions of the pictures.