The board and the seeds
The board has two rows of six pits and a store at each end. Every pit starts with four seeds, so 48 seeds are in play (starting seeds). The row nearest you is yours, and the store on your right is yours. Coral plays first and Blue second.
Sowing seeds
On your turn you pick one of your pits that holds seeds, lift out all of them and drop them one at a time into the pits that follow, anticlockwise. You add a seed to your own store each time you pass it, and you skip your opponent’s store (how to play Mancala).
Extra turns
If your last seed drops into your own store, you move again, and again for as long as each sowing ends there (another turn in Mancala).
Captures
If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your own side and the pit opposite holds seeds, you move those seeds and your last seed into your store. With nothing opposite, no capture is made (how capturing works).
How the game ends
The game ends when one side has no seeds left. The other player moves their remaining seeds into their own store, and the larger store wins (how a game ends). With 48 seeds, 24 each is a draw.
Putting the rules to work
The rules take a minute to learn. To get better, read the Mancala strategy guide, or play Mancala free with a friend or the computer. No sign-up.
Mancala rules questions
How do you play Mancala?
Pick a pit on your side and sow its seeds one by one, anticlockwise, into the next pits and your store. The bigger store wins.
Read the full answer →How do you get another turn in Mancala?
End your sowing with the last seed in your own store. You then move again, and you keep going while each sowing ends in the store.
Read the full answer →How does capturing work in Mancala?
If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your side, you take it and every seed in the pit opposite into your store.
Read the full answer →How does a game of Mancala end?
The game ends as soon as one side has no seeds left. The other player keeps the seeds on their own side, and the larger store wins.
Read the full answer →Can Mancala end in a draw?
Yes. All 48 seeds end up in a store, so the stores can finish 24 to 24. Any other split has a winner, and nothing else breaks a tie.
Read the full answer →How many seeds do you start with in Mancala?
Each of the twelve pits starts with four seeds, so 48 seeds are in play. Both stores start empty, and Coral moves first.
Read the full answer →Play Mancala free →Invite a friend or practice with the computer. No sign-up.