Mancala

A Mancala board from West Africa, in the "Arts of Africa" collection of the Brooklyn Museum

Mancala is a traditional board game played in many parts of Africa, where it has been played for hundreds or even thousands of years. It is played with small stones or seeds using rows of holes carved in wood or small pits in the sand. The aim is to capture the opponent's stones.

How to play Mancala

• The Mancala "board" is made up of two rows of six holes, or pits. You can use an empty egg carton, or make 12 small pits in the sand.
• Each player has their own 'store' at the right end of the Mancala board.
• The game starts with four stones in each of the 12 pits, and the two stores empty.

The Aim of the Game

The aim of the game is to capture the most stones into your store.

Playing the Game

• The first player chooses a pit on their own side, and picks up all the stones in the pit.
• Starting with the next pit, the player drops one stone in each pit going counter-clockwise (including the store) until all of the stones are dropped.
• Stones in your store are captured - they can’t ever be removed.

Winning the game

• The game ends when one player can no longer play because all six pits on their side of the Mancala board are empty.
• The other player then captures all the stones remaining in the pits on their side and moves them to their store.
• The winner is the player with the most stones in their store.

Variations

The rules above are for a simplified version of Mancala. There are other rules which can be used:

• If the last stone you drop is into your own store, you get a free turn.
• If the last stone you drop is into an empty pit on your side, you capture that stone and any stones in the pit directly opposite.

See also

• Cub Indigenous Games Badge
• How to play Morabaraba