Mancala

Overview

Sow seeds around a board of pits and capture your opponent's. Mancala is a family of hundreds of games; these rules describe Kalah, the version sold in Western shops.

No governing body publishes rules for this game. This page describes the most common form. House rules vary, so agree them before you start. Kalah's rules also vary between manufacturers.

1. Setup

A board of two rows of six pits, with a larger store at each end.

Each player owns the row nearest them and the store to their right.

Place four seeds in each of the twelve small pits — 48 in total.

2. Sowing

On your turn, take all the seeds from any one pit on your own side.

Drop them one at a time into each following pit, moving anticlockwise.

• Include your own store as you pass it.
• Skip your opponent's store entirely.

If you have enough seeds to go all the way round, you continue into your opponent's row and back to your own.

3. The two special rules

Free turn. If your last seed lands in your own store, you take another turn immediately. Chaining several of these together is the core skill of the game.

Capture. If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your own side, you capture that seed and all the seeds in the pit directly opposite, placing them all in your store.

A capture of a full opposite pit can swing the game entirely.

4. Ending

The game ends when one player's row is empty after their turn.

The other player then moves all remaining seeds on their own side into their own store.

Most seeds in your store wins. With 48 seeds, 25 wins and 24 each is a draw.

5. Strategy

Count carefully to land in your store. A pit containing exactly the right number to reach your store gives a free turn, and chaining them is how strong players run away with games.

Keep your rightmost pits loaded — they are closest to your store.

Watch for capture threats. An empty pit on your side is an invitation if the opposite pit is full; either fill yours or empty theirs.

6. The wider family

Game	Region	Distinguishing feature
Kalah	Commercial, Western	Stores, free turns, captures
Oware	West Africa	No stores; capture on making 2 or 3
Bao	East Africa	Four rows, extremely complex
Congkak	Malaysia, Indonesia	Simultaneous first move

Commonly argued

• You skip your opponent's store, never your own.
• Landing in your store grants another turn.
• Capture requires your last seed to land in an empty pit on your own side.
• Leftover seeds go to the player whose side they are on when the game ends.
• Sowing is always anticlockwise, in the standard rules.