Mancala
BoardTap one of your pits to sow its seeds counter-clockwise.
How to Play
Goal: Bank more seeds in your store than the computer banks in its own. All 48 seeds are eventually claimed, so 25 or more wins the game.
Controls: Tap any of your six pits that still has seeds. The seeds are sown one per pit counter-clockwise, skipping the computer's store. Playable pits are outlined in orange.
Rules: If your last seed lands in your own store you take another turn. If it lands in one of your own empty pits and the pit opposite has seeds, you capture both. When one side is empty, the other player banks their remaining seeds and the game ends.
About Mancala
Mancala is the oldest game on this site by a very long way. Sowing games of this family have been played across Africa, the Middle East and Asia for centuries, with boards found carved into stone long before anyone wrote the rules down. This version uses the Kalah rules, the variant most people in English-speaking countries have met: six pits a side, four seeds each, and a store at your right hand.
The rule that makes it a real strategy game is the extra turn. If your last seed lands in your own store you go again, so a well-planned turn can chain four or five moves together while your opponent watches. Setting up those chains, and spotting when your opponent is one move from setting up their own, is most of the skill.
The other rule that matters is the capture. Landing your last seed in one of your own empty pits takes everything in the pit directly opposite, which means a pit you carefully emptied is a trap waiting to be sprung. It also means leaving a big pile in a vulnerable pit is how good positions get thrown away.
The computer here searches several moves ahead, including chained extra turns, so it will punish a loose move. Expect to lose the first few games while you learn how the sowing distance interacts with the store, then expect the games to get close.
Mancala tactics that bank seeds
- Count the distance to your store before you sow. A pit holding exactly the right number of seeds to finish in your store gives you a free extra turn.
- Chain extra turns from the right-hand side inward. Playing the pit closest to your store first often sets up a second and third free turn behind it.
- Watch your pit opposite the computer's empty pits. A big pile sitting opposite an empty pit is a capture waiting to happen.
- Emptying one of your own pits is a trap you are setting, not a loss. Keep it empty until you can drop a single seed into it and take the pile opposite.
- Late in a game, think about who runs out first. Emptying your side hands the computer everything left on its own side, so sometimes holding seeds back is worth more than sowing them.
FAQ
How do you play Mancala?
Tap one of your six pits and its seeds are sown one per pit counter-clockwise, skipping the opponent's store. Bank more seeds in your store than the computer to win. With 48 seeds in play, 25 or more wins.
When do I get an extra turn?
Whenever your last seed lands in your own store. Chaining several of those together in one turn is the main strategic skill in the game.
How does capturing work?
If your last seed lands in one of your own pits that was empty, and the pit directly opposite has seeds, you capture that seed plus everything opposite and bank the lot.
How does the game end?
As soon as one player has no seeds left on their side. The other player then banks all the seeds remaining on their own side, and whoever has more in their store wins.
How strong is the computer?
It searches several moves ahead, including chained extra turns, so it will punish a loose move and set up captures against you. Expect to lose a few games while you learn how sowing distance works.
