How to play Mancala

The goal

The board

• Each side has six pits. The six nearest you are yours (on a phone, the column on the right).
• Your store is the long bowl at the end of your row, on your right (at the top on a phone). The computer’s store is at the other end.
• Every pit starts with the same number of stones: 4 by default, or 3, 5 or 6 from New game.

Your turn

• Tap one of your pits that has stones. All its stones are picked up and dropped one at a time into the following pits, counterclockwise.
• Sowing goes through your own store but skips the computer’s.
• Hold a pit to see where its last stone will land before you let go. On a keyboard, use the arrow keys and Enter, or press 1 to 6.

Extra turns and captures

• If your last stone lands in your store, you take another turn.
• If your last stone lands in an empty pit on your side and the computer’s pit opposite has stones, you capture both: that stone and everything opposite go into your store.
• If the pit opposite is empty, nothing is captured and the stone stays where it is.
• The computer plays by the same rules.

The end

• The game ends as soon as either side has no stones left in its pits.
• Each player then moves the stones left on their own side into their own store.
• The bigger store wins. Equal stores are a draw.

Levels

• Easy looks one move ahead and often slips up. Normal plans a few moves ahead. Hard searches deep and rarely misses a capture or extra turn.
• The first move alternates between you and the computer each game, since moving first is an advantage.
• Undo takes back your last move along with the computer’s reply.

Questions

Strategy guides