Last updated: March 29, 2026
Sow stones counter-clockwise around the board and capture your opponent's pieces in this ancient African strategy game.
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Archaeologists have unearthed Mancala boards carved into stone in Ethiopia dating back to the 6th century AD. Players across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia have sown seeds and stones along rows of pits for over a thousand years. The name comes from the Arabic word "naqala," meaning "to move." Mancala trains working memory and counting skills, and a 2004 study in the journal Intelligence linked regular play of counting-based board games to improved numerical reasoning in children. Our version uses the Kalah ruleset, the most widely played variant worldwide. Pick a pit, sow your stones, and try to capture more than your opponent.
Your pit closest to the store (pit 5) holds 4 stones. Sowing them places stones in pits 6, 7, 8, and 9. Wait, that skips your store. Instead, pit 1 holds 4 stones: they land in pits 2, 3, 4, and 5. No extra turn. But pit 5 with 1 stone lands directly in your store. Play pit 5 first for a free extra turn, then plan your next move.
Your pit 3 is empty. Your opponent's pit 9 (directly opposite) holds 8 stones. You pick up 5 stones from pit 2 and sow them: they land in pits 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. The last stone lands in pit 3, which was empty. You capture that stone plus all 8 stones from pit 9. Nine stones swing to your store in a single move.
Your opponent has only one pit with stones left, pit 10 with 3 stones. You have stones in pits 0, 1, and 4. If you can empty your side first, all remaining stones on your opponent's side get swept into their store. Instead, you play to force them to empty their side. You sow from pit 4, landing your last stone in pit 10, giving them stones but setting up your next capture. The player who controls the tempo wins the sweep.
Play Mancala directly in your browser. No downloads. No registration. Choose from Easy, Medium, or Hard CPU difficulty, or play 1v1 against a friend on the same device. The board features smooth stone animations, active player highlighting, and an undo button. Works on desktop, tablet, and phone.
| Version | Difficulty | Players | Typical Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kalah (4 stones) | Medium | 1-2 | 5 to 15 min |
| Oware (no stores) | Hard | 2 | 10 to 30 min |
Mancala is among the oldest known board games. Archaeologists found stone boards in Ethiopia and temple roofs in Luxor, Egypt, dating back to at least the 6th century AD. Some researchers argue for even earlier origins. Senet, from ancient Egypt, is older at roughly 3500 BC, but Mancala has been played continuously for over a thousand years.
In Kalah rules, playing your rightmost pit (the one closest to your store) first is a strong opening. If it contains exactly 1 stone, you land in your store and get an extra turn. With the standard 4-stone setup, playing pit 5 gives you an extra turn immediately, letting you build momentum.
In Kalah, you can only capture when your last stone lands in an empty pit on your own side. The stones you capture come from the opposite pit on your opponent's side. You cannot initiate a capture by landing on your opponent's side.
The game ends immediately. Any stones remaining in pits on the other side are swept into that side's store. The player with the most stones in their store wins. This sweep rule means keeping stones on your side in the late game can be risky.
Kalah with the standard 4-stone setup has been partially solved by computer analysis. The first player can force a win with perfect play, similar to Connect Four. However, the game tree is large enough that in practice, human play remains wide open and competitive.
Mancala rewards counting, planning, and timing more than any other classic board game its size. Every sow changes the board. Every capture shifts the balance. Pick a pit, start sowing, and see if you can outscore the AI or your friend today.
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