Mancala — free online Board game
Sow seeds around the board, chain extra turns and capture your way to the bigger store.
Mancala is the ancient count-and-capture board game, free to play in your browser with the popular Kalah rules. Pick up every seed in one of your six pits and sow them one at a time counter-clockwise. A last seed in your own store gives you another turn; a last seed in an empty pit on your side captures it together with the seeds opposite. When one side runs out, the other side's seeds go to their owner and the bigger store wins. Choose four or six seeds a pit, play an easy, normal or hard computer or a friend on the same device, and undo any move. No download, no sign-up.
Quick start
- Press Start. Your six pits are the bottom row (or the right column on a phone held upright); your store is the big pit they lead to.
- Tap one of your glowing pits: its seeds are sown one by one into the next pits.
- Try to end in your store for a free extra turn.
- Have more seeds in your store than the computer when the game ends.
How to play Mancala
- Each side has six pits and one store. A game starts with four seeds in every pit (or six, if you choose).
- On your turn, pick up all the seeds from one of your pits and drop them one at a time into the following pits, counter-clockwise, including your own store but skipping your opponent's.
- If your last seed lands in your own store, you take another turn.
- If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit opposite has seeds, you capture both: that seed and everything opposite go into your store.
- When all six pits on one side are empty, the game ends and each player adds the seeds still on their side to their own store.
- The player with more seeds in their store wins. With 4 seeds, 25 or more is a guaranteed win.
Controls
- Sow: tap or click one of your highlighted pits
- Keyboard: 1–6 pick a pit from left to right, or arrows + Enter
- Take back your last move: the Undo button or U
- New game: the New game button, a difficulty or a seed count
Strategy tips
- Count before you sow: a pit holding exactly as many seeds as its distance to your store gives you an extra turn. Play those first, starting with the one closest to the store.
- Keep an eye on empty pits on both sides: an empty pit opposite a big pile is a capture waiting to happen.
- Hoarding seeds in your last pits keeps them safe and gives you moves late in the game.
- Hard looks many moves ahead, including chains of extra turns.
Frequently asked questions
Which Mancala rules are these?
Kalah, the version most people mean by Mancala: six pits a side, stores at the ends, extra turns in your store, captures from your own empty pits, and leftover seeds going to their owner at the end. A capture needs seeds in the opposite pit.
What happens if my seeds go all the way round?
With twelve or more seeds you sow past your opponent's pits and back into your own row. Your opponent's store is always skipped, and the pit you started from does receive seeds on the way round.
Is Mancala free?
Yes. It is completely free to play in your browser, with no download, no account and no in-game purchases.
Can two people play?
Yes. Choose 2 players: South moves first, then North, on the same screen.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes. On an upright phone the board turns sideways so the pits stay large enough to tap.