Mancala
Sow the seeds. Fill your store.
One of the oldest games in the world: two rows of houses, a store at each end, and a handful of seeds. Sow them around the board, chain free moves, capture your opponent’s seeds, and fill your store. Here is everything you need to know before you sit down.
- Free practice
- No sign-up
- Play in your browser
Join a Game Room
MancalaGot a room code?
- Players
- 2
- You need
- A board, 48 seeds
- Style
- Count and sow
- Goal
- Most seeds
What is Mancala?
Pick up. Sow. Repeat.
Mancala is a family of counting games played on a board of small pits. Our Classic is Kalah: six houses a side with four seeds in each, and a store at each end.
On your turn you pick up every seed in one of your houses and sow them one at a time around the board. Land your last seed in your store and you go again. Land it in an empty house of yours, and you capture the seeds across the board.
The practice table
Try itLearn it one house at a time.
Play against one bot with our Classic rules. Tap a house to sow it, and the coach looks ahead to find free moves, captures, and the houses to guard.
- Easy, Normal or Sharp: the Sharp bot looks seven moves ahead, and follows every chain of free moves to its end.
- Turn the coach off when you want to play it straight.
- No account, no host, nothing saved.
A little history
Thousands of years of sowing.
Games of the mancala family are among the oldest played anywhere, with boards cut into stone and wood across Africa and Asia, and hundreds of local versions.
Kalah is the version most families know today. We teach it as our Classic, with the standard rules, and show them before every game.
Fun facts
- Kalah starts with six houses a side and four seeds in each, so 48 seeds are in play.
- Land your last seed in your store and you go again.
- Land it in an empty house of yours and you capture the seeds across the board.
- Every seed ends up in a store, and the seeds left on a side go to their owner.
Why people love it
Simple moves, deep counting.
One choice a turn.
Pick a house. That is all. Everything else is counting ahead.
Chains of free moves.
Land in your store and go again. Line them up and you can take five turns in a row.
Sudden captures.
One seed in the right empty house can swing ten seeds into your store.
Quick games.
A game takes ten minutes, and it is over the moment one side runs dry.
How to play
Sow, chain, capture.
Setup
- Players: two. Our practice table is you against one bot.
- Board: six houses a side, and a store at each end. Yours is on your right.
- Seeds: four in every house, 48 in all.
- First move: decide who starts. At our table, it swaps each game.
Winning
When either side runs out of seeds, each player adds the seeds left on their side to their store. Most seeds wins; a tie is a draw.
- 1
Sow a house
Pick up all the seeds in one of your houses. Drop one into each pit after it, counter-clockwise.
- 2
Your store, not theirs
Sow into your own store as you pass it. Skip the other player’s store.
- 3
Land in your store
If your last seed lands in your store, you go again.
- 4
Capture
If your last seed lands in an empty house of yours and the house opposite has seeds, take them all, with your seed, into your store.
- 5
One side empty
The game ends. Count the stores.
These are our Classic rules, and they'll be shown in every room before the game starts. Printable rules card →
Lessons
Learn it in a few minutes.
5 quick lessons, one idea each. Make the call, see why it works, and move on. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Sowing
You pick up the 4 seeds in your house 3. Where do they go?
Scoring
Most seeds wins.
Every seed ends up in a store. Count them.
| What happens | Seeds | |
|---|---|---|
| Sow past your store | 1 each time | |
| Capture | Your seed and all opposite | |
| The other side runs out | You keep what is on your side |
Our Classic rules: four seeds a house, no capture from an empty house opposite, and the seeds left on a side go to their owner. Some tables play with five or six seeds, or capture even when the house opposite is empty.
Strategy
Play it smart. Then play it feral.
Tip 1
Take free moves first.
A house that lands exactly in your store gives you another turn. Play the one nearest the store first, so you don’t spoil the others.
Tip 2
Look for captures.
An empty house of yours with seeds opposite is a target. Find a house that ends its sowing there.
Tip 3
Guard your big houses.
If the bot can land in an empty house opposite your pile, move the pile or fill the empty house.
Tip 4
Hoard near the end.
Seeds on your side are yours when the game ends. Starve the bot’s side and it may run out first.
What would you do?
One decision. Every day.
A new Mancala puzzle every day, the same for everyone. Solve it, then send it to the group chat and see who gets it right.
Want more? See today's puzzles for every game →
Your path to game night
Learn it here. Play it with friends.
Finish the lessons or win a practice game and you're ready to sit down at a real Mancala table with your people.
The Feral Worlds community
Play-testing Mancala? Tell us in Discord.
Found a bug, a rule that feels off, or a house rule your family swears by? Our Discord is where we collect play-test feedback, and where game nights are starting to happen.
Glossary
Talk like a regular.
- House
- One of the six small pits on your side.
- Store
- The big pit at your right. Seeds there are yours to keep.
- Sow
- Drop seeds one at a time into the following pits, counter-clockwise.
- Free move
- Your last seed lands in your store: go again.
- Capture
- Your last seed lands in an empty house of yours: take it and the seeds opposite.
- Kalah
- The version of mancala we play, with six houses and four seeds.
The Feral twist
Still under the hat.
Every game can be played Classic. In Feral mode, the host writes the house rules: the seeds per house, the capture rule, the board size. We'll show you what Mancala can do when it's ready.
In the Board Games pack
Mancala is on the ballot.
Backers vote on which board games join the Board Games pack. Owning the pack means every one that joins is yours too.
$9.95, one time, to host every game in it. Playing is always free. Packs go on sale when the full game launches.
Mancala is on the ballot
Save me a seat.
Hear when the Kickstarter opens so you can vote Mancala into the Board Games pack, and when you can host it with friends.