Mancala

How to play Mancala

1. Each player owns the six pits on their side and the big store on their right. Every pit starts with 4 seeds (3 in the Quick game).
2. On your turn, tap one of your pits. Its seeds are sown one at a time into the next pits, counter-clockwise: along your row, into your store, then along your opponent's row. You skip your opponent's store.
3. If your last seed lands in your own store, you get a free turn — go again!
4. If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit directly across has seeds, you capture them: those seeds plus your last seed go into your store. If the pit across is empty, nothing is captured.
5. When one side has no seeds left, the game ends and each player adds the seeds still on their side to their store. Most seeds in the store wins; equal stores are a draw.

Strategy tips

• Look for pits whose seeds land exactly in your store — and play the one nearest your store first, so the others still line up for more free turns.
• A pit with 13 seeds goes all the way round and finishes in the pit it started from, which is now empty — a sneaky capture.
• Keep an eye on your opponent's empty pits: a big pile sitting across from one is a capture waiting to happen.
• Near the end, seeds on your side are safe points — whatever is left on your side when the game ends goes into your store.

Three ways to play

Solo: chain challenge — a fresh challenge every day, the same for everyone. vs Computer: four characters from Rookie Robo (easy) to Grandmaster Owl (expert); beat each one to earn its star. vs Friend: pass the device, or send an invite link and play online — no account needed.

Variants

Classic uses 4 seeds per pit (48 in all), the standard Kalah game. Quick uses 3 seeds per pit for shorter games — great for younger players. In the daily Chain challenge everyone gets the same five positions: one turn, plus every free turn you can earn, to put as many seeds as possible into your store.

About Mancala

Mancala is not one game but a huge family of "sowing" or "count-and-capture" games, and one of the oldest families of board games still played. Boards carved into stone more than a thousand years ago have been found in East Africa, and versions such as Oware, Bao and Congkak are played across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The word comes from the Arabic naqala, "to move". The six-pit version with stores at each end is called Kalah; it was introduced in the United States in the 1940s and became so popular with families that many Americans simply call it Mancala.

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