Play Mancala

Mancala game info

• Turn-based board game
• Two players
• Originated in Ancient Egypt
• Developed in 7th century

Goal

The goal in Mancala is to plant the most seeds (gems) in the bank (the rightmost store, also called mancala).

Equipment

The game board consists of two rows of six holes, and on each side a bank. Your pits are at the bottom of the board, and your bank is at the right of the board.

The gems come in various colors, but the color doesn’t impact the gameplay.

Gameplay

Four gems are placed In each of the six player’s pits, so totalling 24 gems on a player’s side and 48 gems in total.

The players take turns, picking up all gems in a pit on their side of the board and distributing them one by one to the next pits in counterclockwise direction. This action is called sowing.

If the last gem of a player’s move is placed in a player’s Mancala, they can play again.

If the last gem of a player’s move is placed in an empty hole on their side and there is at least one gem in the pit on the opposite side of the board, the gems in the two pits are placed in the player’s bank.

Game end

The game ends when the pits of one of the players are empty. The other player can add the gems that remain on their side to their mancala. The player with the most gems in their bank wins.

Strategy

• Opening move: If you start, you should pick up the gems in your third pit. This will make the last gem land in your mancala, allowing you another move. If you play your rightmost or second-rightmost pit as follow-up move, you prevent your opponent from making the same opening move.
• Aim for an additional move: If you can make a move where your last gem lands in your mandala, this is often a good choice because it allows another move.
• Try to capture gems: If there is no possibility to land on your mancala with your last gem, you can try to land on an empty pit on your side which has gems on the opposite side, allowing you to capture them from your opponent.
• Defend your gems: If there is no possibility to capture gems from your opponent, you can try to prevent your opponent from capturing gems from you by playing gems into their empty pits. You can also try to prevent them from making an additional move by putting an extra gem in the pits that would allow your opponent to end their move in their mandala.
• Create empty pits with a reason: Emptying the rightmost pit can be interesting because if in a next move a gem is placed in it, you can move it to your mancala in the next move and get another turn. Other pits to empty include those that are opposite of pits of your opponent that have many gems. You can then subsequently try to capture them in your next move.

System requirements

Mancala can be played in all modern browsers, on all device types (desktop, tablet, mobile), and on all operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, ...).