Description
- Made in USA
Mu Torere originated among the Maori tribes of New Zealand. Since Mu Torere existed much longer than recorded by European settlers in the 1850s, the complete history of this game is incomplete. The early settlers discovered the game being played by the Ngati-Porou tribe of the Maoris of the East Cape district. However, during the discovery, Mu Torere was just starting to lose interest among the tribe thus was never described to the general public. When the game was described in R.C. Bells 1969 book "Board and Table Games Vol. 2," the game became popular again. The game is played on a papa takaro, a game board marked in a form of an eight-pointed star that points to the center, called the putahi. The outer ring of points are called the kewai (stars). Each player starts with four pieces of a distinct color. Each players pieces start on one half of the board, side-by-side on the ring of stars, and the putahi is empty. The starting player is randomly determined, then each player will move one piece at a time either into the center or out to a connected vacant star. Players cannot jump over their opponents or their own pieces. The object of the game is to block the opponents pieces so that their pieces are unable to move at all. Mu Torere is a game that gives the strong misconception as an easy game to play. Early settlers were often beaten when playing against Maori players due to their casual approach to the games strategy. Includes wood pegs and a 4-inch square board made in the USA from domestically farmed wood. A strategy game for 2 players age 6 to adult.