Introduction: Monkey Mancala

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We are a group of four from Piedmont Hills High School, and we were challenged to create an educational game to enter in this contest. We decided to build off of an already existing game, so we created "Monkey Mancala", which adds new mechanics (dice and tokens) to Mancala, creating another layer of strategy to an already complex game.

Supplies

For this project, we used:

  • Fusion 360
  • Adobe Illustrator 2021
  • CNC Laser Cutter
  • Wood plank
  • MakerBot Replicator+
  • MakerBot Print
  • Sandpaper
  • Wood Glue
  • Permanent Marker

Step 1: Create the Board and Tokens

In Adobe Illustrator, sketch 4 rectangles with curved corners. These rectangles will be 17.5 inches by 5 inches and their curved corners will have a radius of 0.5 inches. Create 2 rows of 6 ellipses (1.75 inches by 1.5 inches) and 2 slots (5 inches by 1.5 inches) for the pockets and stores on 3 of the rectangles and leave the 4th rectangle blank. The sketches should have a transparent fill and a red 0.0001 millimeter border.

Save the Illustrator PDF into a USB and plug it into a computer connected to a laser cutter with a wood plank to cut into.

Most of the cut out pieces will be used. For the board pieces, the surfaces will need to be sanded so that they can be glued together with wood glue later. The piece without holes will be glued beneath the other 3 pieces.

The ellipses created after laser cutting are the tokens. Write the abilities onto the tokens using a permanent marker. The abilities are:

  • Skip spaces based on dice roll
  • Reverse distribution cycle
  • Steal a monkey from your opponent's pocket/store
  • Swap pockets

Step 2: Create Dice in Fusion 360

In Fusion 360, create a 50 millimeter cube and use circles to make the dots. The circles are cut down 1 millimeter and have a diameter of 10 millimeters.

Step 3: Create Monkey Pieces in Fusion 360

First, make a circle with a diameter of 30 millimeters. Then add ears by creating 2 arcs on each side of the 30 millimeter circle. On each side, the 2 arcs will have the same center point. One will have a radius of 6 millimeters while the other will have a radius of 4.5 millimeters.

Extrude all parts of the head with two-way extrusions. The 30 millimeter circle should be extruded up 3 millimeters and down 3 millimeters. Extrude the outer ear (the shapes between the 4.5 millimeter and 6 millimeter arcs) up and down 2 millimeters and extrude the inner ear up 1 millimeter and down 2 millimeters.

On the surface of the head, create a base for the money's face using arcs and an ellipse. Extrude the base up by 0.75 millimeters.

On the base, create eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Extrude those down 0.75 millimeters.

Step 4: 3-D Print the Pieces

Export the Fusion 360 dice and monkey sketches into .stl files and insert them into MakerBot Print. Export the MakerBot file into a USB and plug it into a 3-D printer (in our case, we used a MakerBot Replicator+ printer). Print 1 die and 48 monkeys in centimeters. The scale of the print may need to be changed to fit in the board better.

Step 5: Enjoy!

With the finished board and pieces, you can now play Monkey Mancala with your friends! The rules are attached below.

Attachments