Joystyk

Board game

Mancala

Sow seeds around the board, chain extra turns and capture across it. The most seeds in your store wins.

Status
Play now
Players
2 players
Modes
Against the computer, Pass and play, Online with friends
Computer players
Yes

Play Mancala

About Mancala

Mancala names a whole family of sowing games, played across Africa, the Middle East and Asia for centuries: Oware, Bao, Omweso and Congkak are a few of them. This one plays by Kalah rules, a version devised in the United States around 1940. Pick up the seeds from one of your pits and sow them one by one around the board, land the last seed in your store to go again, and capture across the board from an empty pit. Play the computer at three levels, pass the device to a friend, or open an online room.

How to play Mancala

  1. The board has two rows of six pits and a store at each end. Each pit starts with four seeds; your row is the one nearest you, and your store is on your right.
  2. On your turn, pick up every seed from one of your pits and sow them one by one counterclockwise: 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 store, you take another turn, as many times in a row as it happens.
  4. If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit opposite holds seeds, you capture: that seed and every seed opposite go to your store.
  5. The game ends as soon as all six pits on either side are empty. Each player adds the seeds left on their side to their store, and the bigger store wins.