Mancala

Game Guide

Overview

Mancala is a counting game disguised as a simple sowing motion. Your six lower pits begin with four stones each. Choosing a pit lifts every stone and drops them one by one around the board, including your store but skipping the AI store. If the final stone lands in your store, you play again. If it lands in an empty pit on your side, it captures the opposite stones into your store.

Controls

Tap any nonempty lower pit to sow it. Arrow and mobile controls cycle only through pits that currently contain stones; Space, Enter, or OK confirms the highlighted choice. The two large end bowls show store totals. The AI plays the upper six pits. Once either row becomes empty, all stones remaining on the other row move into that side's store and the final totals decide the match.

Scoring and Progress

Captured stones and store growth drive the score, with an additional reward for a final-stone landing in your store because it preserves the turn. The board ends with forty-eight stones divided between the stores, so every gain is concrete rather than cosmetic. Best records the strongest local run, while the rating reflects whether your sowing created repeated turns and large opposite-pit captures.

Strategy Tips

Count the landing pit before choosing. A pit containing exactly enough stones to reach your store is often valuable because the extra turn lets you combine two plans. Also watch empty pits on your side: landing a single final stone there captures the opposite stack. Do not empty every near-store pit at once, because those small pits are useful timing tools for future store landings.

Mobile Play

On mobile, the oval pits are large enough for direct taps, but the legal-pit cycle helps when only one or two stones remain near an edge. Read the number inside a pit rather than estimating from decoration. Since each move redistributes many stones, pause after the AI sowing and recount the lower row before acting again. Portrait view keeps both stores and every pit visible together.