It is related to tic-tac-toe, and even more so to three men's morris, Nine Holes, Achi, Tant Fant, and Dara, because pieces are moved on the board to create the 3-in-a-row.
Shisima means "body of water" in some language spoken in Kenya.
Each player places their 3 pieces on three successive vacant points along the octagon's perimeter.
Merrill observed that there were several diagrams scratched into the steps and pavements of Roman buildings in the design of a wheel.
The game as described by him is almost the same as that of Shisima, except that in Rota each player may place one of their pieces in turn on any vacant intersection point at the beginning part of the game, and it is only when a player has placed all of his 3 pieces on the board that he may begin to move them; whereas in Shisima the initial positions are pre-determined thus causing the movement phase commence at the beginning.