Mancala
Mancala Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
Collect more seeds in your store than your opponent by the time the game ends.
Equipment
- 1 board with two rows of 6 small pits and a larger store (called a Kalah, or mancala) at each end.
- 48 seeds (stones, beads, or marbles).
Setup
Place the board between the two players so that each player has a row of 6 pits closest to them, with their store on their right-hand end.
Place 4 seeds in each of the 12 small pits. The two stores start empty.
Each player "owns" the 6 pits on their side of the board and the store to their right.
How to Play
Players take turns. On your turn, sow the seeds from one of your own pits:
- Choose one of the 6 pits on your side that contains at least one seed. Scoop up all the seeds from that pit.
- Moving counterclockwise, drop one seed into each pit you pass, one at a time.
- Include your own store when passing it, dropping a seed in. Skip your opponent's store—never place a seed there.
- Continue past your opponent's pits (dropping seeds in them too) if you still have seeds in hand, looping around the board as needed.
Special Rules
Free turn. If the last seed you sow lands in your own store, you immediately take another turn. You may earn several extra turns in a row this way.
Capture. If the last seed you sow lands in an empty pit on your own side, you capture: take that last seed and all the seeds in the opposite pit (your opponent's pit directly across from it) and place them all in your store. If the opposite pit is empty, no capture happens—your seed simply stays there.
Ending the Game
The game ends as soon as one player's six pits are all empty on their turn (they have no legal move to make).
When this happens, the other player moves all the seeds remaining in their own six pits into their own store.
Then each player counts the seeds in their store. The player with the most seeds wins. An equal count (24 each) is a tie.
Strategy Notes
- Setting up a chain of moves that repeatedly ends in your store lets you take many turns in a row.
- Watch for capture opportunities—emptying one of your pits so a later move lands its last seed there can net a big haul from the pit opposite.
- Track your opponent's threats too: leaving many seeds in a pit opposite one of their empty pits invites a capture.