Mancala
Board Games · 11 playsMancala
Sow your seeds round the board, bank them in your store and outfox the computer.
Quick start
Tap one of your pits on the bottom row to lift its seeds and sow them one at a time to the right and round. Seeds skip the computer’s store but drop into yours. Finish in your store and you move again. Finish in one of your own empty pits while the pit opposite holds seeds, and both lots go into your store. When either row runs out, everything left goes to its owner’s store, and the bigger store wins.
Controls: Tap or click
About this game
Pull up a chair for a game that families have been playing with pebbles and scooped-out boards for longer than anyone can remember. This version follows the Kalah rules: six little pits on your side, six on the computer’s, four seeds in each, and a big store at either end. Pick up a pit, drop one seed in each hole as you travel round, and try to finish in your own store for another go. It’s gentle to learn and surprisingly crafty once you start counting ahead, because the computer is looking five moves down the road too. Free to play in your browser, with no download and no sign-up.
Family tips
Count the seeds before you touch a pit. The pit nearest your store needs exactly one seed to finish there, the next one needs two, and so on. Playing those exact pits first can string several turns together, and taking the closest one first often lines up the next free move rather than spoiling it.
Keep an eye on the computer’s empty pits. If one sits opposite a heap of yours, that heap is in danger, so either sow it away or fill the empty pit with a passing seed. Turn the trick round as well: one of your own empty pits facing a fat pile is a capture waiting for the right count.
Late in the game, think about who will run out first. When your row empties, the computer banks everything still on its side, so a lead can vanish. Sometimes the wise move is to hoard seeds in your last pits and let the computer run dry instead.
