Coming to the Forgotten Games iOS app
Circle the board. Fight for the centre. Finish in a flash.
The contest begins already in motion. Six pieces crowd an octagon, only three points are empty, and every possible winning line must pass through the centre. Slide once and the shape of the whole board changes; hesitate and your opponent may be one move from a perfect diameter.
See how the app edition plays
Beyond the board
A 1998 activity book catches Shisima in motion among children in western Kenya and even records the moment repeated moves turn a contest into a draw. An earlier 1982 teaching reference sits behind the Digital Ludeme record, while Kenyan educational material keeps the name in view. Together they offer snapshots rather than a complete chronology.
The most vivid description needs almost nothing: lines drawn in sand, then bottle caps, pebbles or buttons placed on nine points. That material freedom suits Shisima perfectly. The game’s identity lives in its octagon, spokes and decisive centre—not in an expensive board.
The trail leads most clearly to Tiriki play in western Kenya. Wheel-shaped games appear elsewhere, but resemblance is an invitation to compare how people solve similar spatial problems—not proof that every wheel shares one origin.
The turn that changes everything
Nothing leaves the board, so every move matters twice: it advances your line and releases the point you abandon. The outer ring keeps pieces circling, while eight spokes pull everything towards the centre. An apparent threat on the rim means nothing unless it can become a straight line through the heart of the board.
From first move to victory
This is the selected Forgotten Games app edition. Other ways of playing exist.
Each player has three pieces on consecutive outer points, facing an opposing run of three. The centre and two outer points begin empty.
Move one piece to an adjacent empty point along the octagon or one of its spokes. There is no jumping and no capture.
Align all three pieces on a marked diameter: an outer point, the centre and the opposite outer point.
The app declares a draw when the same complete position occurs for the third time.
The version in the app
Forgotten Games follows the reviewed nine-point, move-only core. It preserves the published three-repetition result using an exact-position trigger, and includes a defensive no-legal-move draw that the current game graph does not reach.
Follow the evidence
These are the principal records and accounts reviewed for this introduction. A source can show a dated game, ruleset or practice; it cannot by itself prove a single origin or an unchanged tradition.
Forgotten Games for iPhone and iPad
The final App Store destination will be added before release.
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