How to Play Mancala Game

Mancala is a two-player strategic game with simple rules even a kid can learn. It can be your fav weekend game to spend time with your partner or friend, a great chance to play with kids or even make mancala tournaments during your parties. It is not only one of the simplest but also one of the oldest games mankind created. If you wonder where did the game mancala originate from, it is probably of African origin, and the oldest mancala desk was found by archeologists in Egypt and its age is over a couple of thousands years. Among various options, it was popular in African regions, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

So, let’s learn what mancala is and how to play this game.

Mancala Objective

Mancala is a game with marble or glass stones (often called seeds) on a special desk with round pits and prolonged cups called namely mancalas. The objective of the game is to get as much mancalas to your mancala as possible.

“In Mancala every stone counts, just like in life: small moves create big victories.”

Mancala Marble Game Setup

What do you need to play mancala game?

1. A partner to play with. Mancala rules require two players to start a game.
2. A special desk which is divided into two parts with a big mancala pit and six smaller pits for marbles.
3. Namely, stones or seeds. They can be marble, glass, or you can even use some nuts or sea pebbles instead of mancala stones. As for how many pieces in a mancala game should be, traditionally, there are 48 beads, 24 for each player.

Mancala Marble Game Varieties

In classy versions, often called Oware and Kalah, you use 48 marbles and place them in each smaller pit at your side of the desk, four per pit. In some versions, 24 stones are used (thus, this game’s name is a 2-stone mancala as only two stones are placed from the start in each pit). Another modification, Bao mancala, uses more stones and pits – there are 4 rows of 8 pits to play with.

How to Play Mancala Game Step by Step

So, what is mancala and how to play it? The simplest rules for mancala are as follows.

Step 1. Arranging the desk

The desk for mancala is placed on the surface to make each player sit behind a row of pits with mancalas on the sides. The closest horizontal row of pits is yours, and the opposite one is your competitor’s. The mancalas are divided in the following way: the mancala pit right to you is yours. Then, all marbles are divided between players and set in pits. Usually, each pit from the very start has 4 stones in it while mancalas are empty.

Step 2. Making the first turn

It’s up to the players to decide who will play first. The directions for the game mancala are always to the right counterclockwise so you have to move this way always. For playing your turn, pick up stones from one of the pits from your row and then ‘sow’ them one by one in the next pits counterclockwise If the last stone from a grab comes to mancala, you get an additional turn instantly. Just pick another pack from another pit and continue.

If you reach mancala and you still have some stones in your hand, you continue ‘sowing’ them to your competitor’s pits following counterclockwise. If the last stone is ‘sowed’ to any pit, the turn comes to another player.

Step 3. Grabbing as many stones to your mancala

The main goal of the game is to collect as many stones in your mancala as it is possible. If you have an empty pit, and the last stone from your hand comes to it, you can grab all the stones from your competitor’s pit opposite to this empty one and take them to your mancala.

The game lasts until one of the layers has their pits in a row all empty, or until all stones are in mancalas. The player whose row is not empty takes all the stones from their pits and adds them to their mancala.

Some Specific Rules to Learn Before You Play Mancala Game

• You can decide in advance the terms for finishing the game: whether it stops when all your/your competitor’s pits are empty or when all stones are in mancalas.
• One stone for one pit. When you take stones from a pit, you have to sow them one by one to the next pits with only one stone per pit/mancala.
• If you touch stones in a certain pit, you cannot take another pill, you have to play these.

Winning Strategies

Although mancala looks simple, it also has some strategies. The best mancala strategy is to count turns in advance and check your competitor’s ones. Also, it is better not to leave pits on your side empty as another player can possess their stone in them and grab the opposite pit to their mancala. One more strategy to follow is to plan your first turn in such a way as to finish it in mancala to get an additional turn.

Scoring Mancala Game

What about scoring? It’s simple. Once you finish the game, you calculate stones in your mancala, and the winner is the one who collects more stones. In some variants, the winner is who made the competitor’s raw fully empty and captured all competitor’s stones.

Conclusion

Once you learn how to play and how to win in mancala, you can add this stunning game to your board game collection. Stay tuned and keep an eye on our blog so as not to miss lots of curious articles about board games from all over the world.