Mancala

Tips for Mancala

The key to Mancala is the extra turn. In Kalah, if your last bead lands in your own store you sow again, and two or three extra turns in a row is where games are won. Count the beads in each of your pits, look for the one that ends exactly in your store, and then check whether that move sets up another. Holding a pit shows exactly where the last bead will land, so use it instead of guessing.

Captures are the other weapon: drop your last bead into an empty pit on your own row and you take everything in the pit facing it. Keep an eye on your opponent's empty pits for the same reason, because a full pit of yours facing one of them is at risk. The game ends when one row runs dry, so watch how many beads are left on each side. Start with Kalah against Easy, undo when you miscount, and turn the pit counts on with C while you learn.

How to play Mancala

Mancala is played on a board of twelve pits, six on your side and six on your opponent's, with a store at each end. In Kalah, the standard game, the aim is to finish with more beads in your store than your opponent has in theirs. On your turn you pick one of your own pits, and all of its beads are sown anticlockwise round the board, one bead into each pit. You drop a bead into your own store as you pass it, but your opponent's store is always skipped.

If your last bead lands in your own store, you sow again straight away. If it lands in an empty pit on your own row, you take it together with every bead in the pit facing it. The game ends when one row runs dry; the other player then gathers up whatever is left, and the fuller store wins. The settings let you start with three, four or six beads a pit and choose house rules, including what happens to those leftovers.

Oware, the other game on the board, plays differently: nothing is sown into the stores, and you capture when your last bead makes a pit on your opponent's side two or three, with the chain back along the row, the grand-slam rule and the duty to keep the other row fed. On a computer the number keys 1 to 6 pick a pit, U undoes, H shows a hint, C shows the pit counts, P pauses and M mutes. On a phone or tablet you tap one of your pits, and you can hold a pit to see where the last bead will land.

About Mancala

Mancala is the name of a whole family of sowing games played across Africa and Asia, among the oldest board games still played. Kalah is the version many players outside Africa learn first, and Oware is one of the most widely known West African forms. Kiloo's Mancala has both, played on a long plank of warm teak with twelve scooped pits and a deep store at each end, laid on a woven raffia mat. The seeds are glass beads in amber, jade, cobalt, ruby and clear, and they pile up and clatter as they land.

It suits anyone who enjoys counting and planning a move or two ahead, and the rules are short enough for children to pick up. You can play a friend on the same device, with the board standing upright on a phone so you each sit at your own store, or take on the computer at Easy, Normal or Sharp, which searches ten moves deep. Undo, hints, the sowing preview and the optional pit counts let you learn without guessing.

Frequently asked questions