Mancala guide

Goal

Capture more seeds in your store than your opponent. The store is the large pit on your right. The player with the most seeds in their store when the game ends wins.

Setup

The board has two rows of six pits, with a store on each end. Each of the twelve small pits starts with four seeds (48 total). Both stores start empty.

     [4][4][4][4][4][4]
  |N|                  |S|
  |0|                  |0|
     [4][4][4][4][4][4]
     ^ your pits ^

Sowing

• On your turn, pick up all seeds from one of your own pits (the bottom row from your perspective).
• Drop one seed at a time into each subsequent pit, moving counter-clockwise.
• Drop a seed in your own store as you pass it.
• Skip your opponent's store entirely - never drop a seed there.

Extra Turn

If your last seed lands in your own store, you take another turn immediately. Chain extra turns whenever you can - they're a big advantage.

Capture

If your last seed lands in one of your own empty pits, and the pit directly opposite (across the board) has seeds, you capture both that seed and all of the opposite pit's seeds. Move them all into your store.

Game End

• The game ends as soon as one player has no seeds in any of their six pits.
• The other player sweeps their remaining seeds into their own store.
• Whoever has the most seeds in their store wins. Equal scores are a draw.

Tips

• Look for moves that land in your store - extra turns compound quickly.
• Set up captures by leaving an empty pit aimed at a full opposite pit.
• Watch what your opponent can capture next turn - empty your dangerous pits first.
• In the end-game, the side with seeds gets to sweep everything left over.