About Mancala
Mancala is a family of sowing games played for centuries across Africa and Asia; this is Kalah, the version most people learn, with six pits a side, four seeds in each and a store at each end. Sow counter-clockwise, land in your store for another turn, and capture from an empty pit of your own. The Hard robot searches many moves ahead; Easy and Normal are friendlier. Play a friend on one phone, or online with a code.
How to play Mancala
- Each side has six pits with four seeds and a store on its right. Pick up all the seeds in one of your pits and drop one in each pit counter-clockwise, including your store but not the other player’s.
- A last seed in your own store gives you another turn. A last seed in an empty pit of yours captures it and every seed in the pit opposite.
- When one side is empty the other player keeps the seeds left on theirs. The most seeds in the store wins.
- Tap one of your pits (the bottom row). Results are saved on this device.
Tips & strategy
- Count before you move: a pit with exactly the right number of seeds to end in your store gives you a free turn. Chain several and you can take two or three turns in a row.
- An empty pit of yours opposite a full enemy pit is a capture waiting to happen; set it up, and watch for the same against you.
- Keep seeds on your side late in the game. When the other side empties, everything left on yours is yours.
- Sowing from your rightmost pits puts seeds on the enemy side; sowing from the left keeps them with you. Choose with the ending in mind.
Mancala: questions and answers
Which way do the seeds go?
Counter-clockwise: from the pit you pick up, to the right along your row, into your store, then along the other player’s row. The other player’s store is skipped.
How does a capture work?
If the last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit opposite holds seeds, both the last seed and the opposite seeds go into your store.
When does the game end?
As soon as either side has no seeds left. The other player then moves everything still on their side into their store, and the larger store wins.
Which player sits where?
Your pits are the bottom row and your store is on the right. Online, both players see the board from their own side.