Mancala (Kalah) Rules and Strategy

The rules

1. Setup: two rows of six pits, four seeds in each, and a store (a long pit) at each end. Your pits are the row nearest you; your store is on your right.
2. A move: pick up all the seeds in one of your pits and sow them one at a time into the following pits, counter-clockwise: along your row to the right, into your store, then along the opponent's row. Skip the opponent's store.
3. Free turn: if the last seed lands in your store, move again.
4. Capture: if the last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the opposite pit holds seeds, take that seed and all the seeds opposite into your store.
5. End: when one side's pits are all empty, the other player moves all the seeds left on their side into their store. The player with more seeds in their store wins; 24 each is a draw.

Counting is the game

Every decision in Kalah starts with a count. Number your pits 1 to 6 starting from the one nearest your store. A pit's seeds are sown into the pits between it and the store first, so pit k needs exactly k seeds for its last seed to land in the store. At the start every pit holds four seeds, so pit 4 is the one that lines up: its seeds fall into pits 3, 2 and 1 and then the store. That is the classic opening move, and it gives you another turn.

Before every move, check each of your pits: does its count equal its distance to the store? If so, it is a free turn. Can you play two free turns in a row (a small pit first, then another that still lines up)? Chains of free turns are how games are won.

Captures

A capture needs an empty pit on your side and seeds opposite it. You create one by emptying a pit (which happens every time you move from it) and then landing a last seed there later, often by sowing all the way around the board from a big pit. Watch the opponent's empty pits for the same reason: if one of their pits is empty and your pit opposite is full, they may be a single move from capturing it. Fill the empty pit (by sowing a seed into it) or move the seeds opposite.

Keeping seeds on your side

The game ends when either side is empty, and the other player keeps what remains on their side. So late in the game, seeds on your side are nearly as good as seeds in your store, and sowing them across to the opponent is giving them away. Moves from your right-hand pits send seeds to the opponent's row; moves from the left keep more of them with you. As the board empties, prefer moves that keep seeds at home and that threaten to leave the opponent with no move.

Tempo and starvation

A player with no seeds on their side cannot move, and the game ends. If you can run the opponent out of seeds while holding many on your side, you collect everything that is left. The reverse is the danger: do not let your own side empty while the opponent's side is full.

Playing the robot

Easy sows without looking ahead; Normal takes free turns and obvious captures; Hard searches many moves deep and will set up captures you did not see coming. Against Hard, count every empty pit on its side before you move and avoid leaving a big pit opposite one.

Common mistakes

1. Missing a free turn. Count every pit, every move.
2. Leaving a big pit opposite an enemy empty pit. That is a capture waiting.
3. Sowing seeds across late in the game. They become the opponent's at the end.
4. Emptying your own side. It ends the game with the opponent's seeds safe.
5. Taking a small capture that spoils a chain of free turns. Free turns compound.

Glossary

• Sowing: dropping seeds one by one into successive pits.
• Store (Kalah): the large pit at each end where captured seeds go.
• Free turn: another move, earned when the last seed lands in your store.
• Capture: taking the opposite pit's seeds when your last seed lands in an empty pit of yours.
• Starvation: running the opponent out of seeds so the game ends.