Mancala: play it here and learn how it works

How to play Mancala, step by step

Mancala is a family name rather than one game. Wikipedia's article on the family counts more than 800 traditional names for these count-and-capture games, played on boards with two or four rows of pits. The two-row game most North Americans grew up with is Kalah, which Wikipedia calls the most popular version in the Western world. That is the game on this page.

Setup

Put the board between you lengthwise. The six pits nearest you are yours, numbered 1 to 6 from your left in our game, and the large pit at your right-hand end is your store. Place four seeds in each of the twelve small pits. Stores start empty.

Sowing

Choose any of your pits that has seeds. Lift all of them and drop them one at a time into the following pits, moving to your right along your row, into your store, then along your opponent's row from their right to their left. If you have enough seeds to come all the way round, skip your opponent's store and carry on into your own pits again. A pit with 13 seeds makes exactly one lap and drops its last seed back in the pit it came from.

Another turn

If the last seed falls into your own store, you move again at once. You can chain several of these in a row; nothing limits how many.

Capturing

If the last seed falls into an empty pit on your side, and the pit directly across holds seeds, take your seed and everything across from it and put them all in your store. A capture ends your turn. Landing in an empty pit on your opponent's side does nothing.

The end

The game stops as soon as one player's six pits are all empty, whoever's turn it is. The player who still has seeds on their side puts them in their own store. Count the stores; the larger wins, and equal stores are a draw.

Opening moves at a glance (four seeds per pit)

Worked out by the same code the game runs. Only pit 3 earns another turn on the first move. Pits 4, 5 and 6 each bank one seed but hand seeds to the other side.

Where sources differ

• Seeds per pit. Wikipedia's Kalah article, officialgamerules.org and gamerules.com all start with four. Wikipedia adds three-, five- and six-seed games and says more seeds make the game harder. gamerules.com instead suggests two or three seeds for a shorter or simpler game. Our game offers three, four, five or six.
• Capturing next to an empty pit. Wikipedia and officialgamerules.org both require seeds in the pit across before a capture happens. Wikipedia lists an "empty capture" variant where your last seed goes to your store even when the pit across is empty. gamerules.com does not say either way. Our game uses the standard rule by default and offers empty capture in settings.
• Seeds left at the end. gamerules.com, officialgamerules.org and Wikipedia all give them to the player whose side they are on. Wikipedia adds two alternatives: count them for the player who emptied their side, or do not count them at all. All three are in our settings, labeled.
• Direction. Wikipedia and officialgamerules.org say counter-clockwise; gamerules.com says play "always moves to the right", which is the same thing seen from your seat. Wikipedia also mentions a clockwise variant. Our game sows counter-clockwise only.
• When the game ends. Wikipedia ends it when either player has no seeds left in their pits. gamerules.com and officialgamerules.org say the same in their own words. Our game stops the moment either row is empty.

House rules and other games in the family

These are labeled variants. Agree on them before the first move.

• Three, five or six seeds per pit (in our settings). Fewer seeds make a quicker game with fewer laps; more seeds mean bigger piles, longer sowing and more captures to watch for.
• Empty capture (in our settings). Your last seed in an empty pit of yours goes to your store even if nothing is across from it.
• End-of-game seeds (in our settings): to the player whose side they are on, to the player who ran out, or not counted.
• Seed on and clockwise sowing (not in our game). Wikipedia describes a version where a last seed in a non-empty pit means you pick that pit up and keep sowing, and one where seeds move clockwise.

Oware (also called Awale) is a different game. It uses the same two rows of six pits and four seeds each, but according to Wikipedia seeds never go into the stores while sowing, you capture on your opponent's side when your last seed makes a pit there hold exactly two or three, and 25 seeds wins. Our game does not play Oware.

Tips that win games

1. Count the steps to your store. A pit reaches your store when its seeds equal its distance: pit 6 needs 1 seed, pit 5 needs 2, down to pit 1 needing 6 (or 13 more for a full lap). At the start that means pit 4 with 3 seeds, pit 3 with 4 seeds, pit 2 with 5 seeds, pit 1 with 6 seeds. The preview in our game does the counting for you.
2. Play the extra turn closest to your store first. Sowing from pit 3 drops a seed in pits 4, 5 and 6 and can spoil a move that was ready to land in your store. If pit 6 holds one seed and pit 3 holds four, play pit 6 first, then pit 3 still lands home.
3. Watch the empty pits on both sides. An empty pit of yours across from a big pile of theirs is a capture waiting to happen; check whether any of your pits can reach it. The same goes the other way, so do not leave a big pile of your own facing an empty pit your opponent can land in.
4. Late in the game, keep seeds on your side. Under the standard end rule, whatever is left in your pits when a side runs dry is yours. Emptying your own row quickly hands the rest of the board to your opponent.
5. Take turns going first. Wikipedia reports that four-seed Kalah is a win by 8 for the starting player with perfect play. Alternate who starts, or play two games and add the scores.

Questions people ask

How do you play Mancala?

Each player owns the six pits on their side and the store to their right. On your turn, scoop up every seed in one of your pits and drop them one at a time into the next pits, going counter-clockwise, into your own store but never your opponent's. Land your last seed in your store and you go again. Land it in an empty pit on your side and you capture it plus the seeds across from it. When one side runs out of seeds the game ends, and the bigger store wins.

How many stones go in each pit?

Four in each of the twelve small pits, 48 in all, in the usual Kalah setup. Wikipedia's Kalah article lists games started with three, five or six per pit too, and says more seeds make a harder game; gamerules.com suggests two or three for a shorter game. Our game offers three to six.

What happens when your last seed lands in an empty pit?

If the empty pit is on your side, you capture: that seed and every seed in the pit straight across go into your store. Under the standard rule the pit across must have seeds in it, or nothing happens. Some players use an "empty capture" rule where you bank the single seed anyway. An empty pit on your opponent's side does nothing.

Who gets the stones left at the end?

Under the standard Kalah rule, the player who still has seeds on their side puts them in their own store. Wikipedia notes two other ways: give them to the player whose side ran out, or leave them out of the score. Agree before you start; it can flip a close game.

Do you put a stone in your opponent's store?

No. You skip your opponent's store and keep going around to their pits and back to yours. You do drop a seed in your own store every time you pass it.

Does the first player have an advantage?

Yes. Kalah has been solved by computer, and Wikipedia reports that with three to six seeds per pit the player who starts always wins with perfect play; with four seeds the margin is 8. Take turns going first.