Elongo is a competitive tile-laying and area majority game with the goal of placing all of a player's animals (zebu, goats, and sheep) into grazing fields and enclosures tended by Maasai warriors and boys. Players use shields (tiles) to expand, enclose, and claim land, construct bomas (fenced enclosures), frustrate opponents plans, and strategically place their animals and caretakers.

The game ends when a player places all their animals, or shields run out and animals placed are compared to decide the winner.

Core Objectives

• Place all assigned animals (zebu, sheep, goats) into valid grazing areas on the board.

• Control grazing fields using warriors (for zebu) and boys (for sheep/goats) and construct secure bomas for permanent animal placement.

Setup

• Each player receives a set number of animals (20 each of zebu, goats, and sheep in long game; 14 each in short game), 4 warriors, 7 boys, and 13 shields per round (8 wide, 5 narrow).

• Three shields form a central hexagon to start; players may claim land patches using warriors or boys in this phase.

Game Flow

• Players take turns, each laying 2 shields per turn and optionally placing warriors/boys on newly laid shields.

• Shields expand the playing area, joining fence foundations to create contiguous land parcels and potential enclosures.

• Players optionally claim land and complete enclosures or build bomas with warriors; animals are placed as enclosures and bomas are completed.

• Players may remove warriors/boys already on the playing area if they are not being optimally used, although animals they are guarding are also removed.

• The stock of shields is replenished back to 13 when all players are down to one, warriors building bomas are returned to stock to be reutilised, leaving animals in the bomas safe.

Land Types & Control

• Red land is for zebu (claimed by warriors).

• Green land is for sheep (claimed by boys).

• Yellow land is for goats (claimed by boys).

• Enclosures are made by completely surrounding land patches of one colour; bomas are fenced enclosures where animals are protected without needing indefinite caretaking.

Key Actions

• Lay shields to expand/surround land parcels and/or build boma fences.

• Lay shields to frustrate opponent’s possibilities to complete land enclosures.

• Steal opponents land parcels by joining claimed parcels and reclaiming them.

• Place, move, or remove warriors/boys and animals as land is claimed and enclosures and bomas are created.

Endgame & Scoring

• The winner is the player who places all their animals first.

• If not all animals are placed when all the shields have been placed, the player with the most zebu placed wins; ties are broken by total sheep and goats placed.