Two years in the making and finally Sydney Casely-Hayford released his “edutainment” game designed around Adinkra motifs and symbols. “it came as a brain-wave one day at the Christmas table. We were relaxing after the traditional turkey meal and I suddenly thought how entertaining it would be if we had a game of the sort, after a meal of the sort with the family of sorts we are. Since then it has been a patient progress to develop the kind of quality game that would interest both Ghanaian and foreigner alike.”, said Sydney
Adinkra symbolism is a visual representation of social thought relating to the history, philosophy and religious beliefs of the Akan peoples of Ghana and Cote D'lvoire.
Each of the motifs that make up the corpus of adinkra symbolism has a name and meaning derived either from a proverb, a historical event, human attitude, animal behavior, plant life, forms and shapes of inanimate and man-made objects. These are graphically rendered in stylized geometric shapes. The Adinkra game is based on the designs, values and cultural philosopy of the Asante people of Ghana and can be played by two or more persons.
The objective of the game is to teach whilst having fun learning the philosophy of the rich culture of the Asante people of Ghana in West Africa. The history and evolution of the Adinkra cloth is interesting and linked to the greatness of the Kente cloth of Ghana. The purpose of the designs and their manifestation in regency can only be known through studying the era and epoch of the Kingdom of the Ashanti. You answer as many questions as you can about the history and making of Adinkra cloth, collecting cards as you try to finish first to the end zone. Watch out for “Funtunfunafu Denkyem” along the way!
The game comes with a specially designed water proof Adinkra mat showing 3 rings of 60 adinkra symbols. A one six-sided dice, 4 playing tokens, 60 black Gye Nyame cards with questions about Adinkra history and culture and 56 colored Adinkra symbol cards with meanings about the symbols on the reverse side.
The name Adinkra comes from the legendary King conquered by the Ashanti people, who according to legend, wore luxurious patterned fabrics. Adinkra means "goodbye," and the special cloth was reserved for funeral garments. The game should serve as an important family bonding tool, combining entertaining moments with a learning experience to help the youth bridge the history and culture gap and for those of us who have forgotten or never knew that there are other symbols than Gye Nyame, you will be challenged to explore the significance of over 500 other motifs. Sydney has presented only 56 in this game.
Said Sydney, “do you know that the façade of the recent Golden Jubilee Palace (former Flagstaff house) is designed in Gye Nyame and Fi-Hankra symbols? You know Gye Nyame. But what does Fi-Hankra represent? Visit the Adinkra Game site at; www.adinkragame.com
