Play Mancala online
Scoop up a pit and the stones run round the board one at a time. Count it right and the last one drops into your store and you go again, or lands in an empty pit of yours and takes everything across from it.
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Why play Mancala here
The rules take a minute: before your first game a short animation plays each one out on a real board. Then the computer is your opponent, and it starts gentle. Each win brings one with a new way of playing — one with quick hands, one that builds a pile to go all the way round, one that guards its stones, then ones that think further ahead.
No clock and no account. Every pit shows how many stones it holds, so all of the thinking is about where the last one will land. Undo takes a move back, your game is saved if you close the tab, and the stones play notes in time with a soft backing tune, with a switch for the music and another for the sound effects.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Mancala?
Each side has six pits with four stones in each, and a store at its right-hand end. On your turn you pick up every stone in one of your pits and drop them one at a time into the next pits, counter-clockwise, into your own store as well but never into your opponent’s. If the last stone lands in your store you go again; if it lands in an empty pit on your side, you capture it and every stone in the pit opposite. The game ends when one side has no stones left, and the bigger store wins.
How does capturing work in Mancala?
When your last stone lands in an empty pit on your own side and the pit directly opposite holds stones, both that last stone and everything opposite go into your store, and your turn ends. A last stone in an empty pit with nothing opposite captures nothing. Some boxed sets let you take the single stone even then; this game plays the usual Kalah rule.
When does the game end, and who wins?
As soon as either player’s six pits are all empty. The stones still on the board go to the store on their own side, and whoever has more stones in their store wins. With 48 stones in play a 24–24 draw is possible.
What is a good Mancala strategy?
Take free turns first, and when several pits can reach your store, play the one nearest to it first so the others still land. Keep an eye on your empty pits: one sitting opposite a big pile of your opponent’s is a capture waiting to happen. And look at your own piles the same way — a heap opposite one of their empty pits is a heap they can take.
Is Mancala the same as Kalah, Mangala or Oware?
Mancala is the name of a whole family of sowing games played around the world. The one most people know from the boxed set, with two rows of six pits and a store at each end, is Kalah, and that is the game here. Mangala and Oware are relatives with capture rules of their own.
Is it free to play, and does it work on phones?
Yes. Mancala here is free, with no download and no account, and nothing to buy. It runs in the browser on a computer, a tablet or a phone; on a narrow screen the board stands upright so the pits stay big enough to tap.
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