Mancala Instructions...
There are many different rule variations for mancala. My Simple Mancala Game provides three common variations and allows you to design your own!! The provided variations are the Egyptian, Ethiopian and Nigerian variations - according to this website about Mancala).
I have attempted in my mancala game to allow you to make your own variations, but if I've left anything out, let me know at edwardsmale@edwardsmale.co.uk.
On this page, I have attempted to give a very simple introduction to Mancala.
Simple Mancala Rules
Mancala is played with stones, and a board with a series of hollows, or pits, cut into it, often made of wood. It is a count-and-capture game, where players attempt to capture the most stones in their 'mancala'.
Probably easiest to see an example, so here is the opening position in Egyptian Mancala:
Players sit opposite one another. In this example of Egyptian Mancala (and many other variations), player 1 uses the circular hollows along the bottom, and tries to get stones into the larger oval shaped hollow on the right hand side of the picture (his 'Mancala'). Player 2 plays with on the opposite side of the board, and oval shaped hollow (Mancala) on his right (on the left hand side of the picture).
Like this:
The colour of the stones doesn't matter at all. All stones are treated the same. But different colours looks prettier :-)
Players take it in turns. On your turn, you choose one of the circular hollows on your side containing some stones. You then pick up all of the stones in that hollow, and deal them one by one, going round the board anti-clockwise. For example, if Player 1 chooses his second hollow from the left:
then the four stones will be placed one after another into hollows 3, 4, 5 and 6, so that each now contains 5 stones, like this:
Now it is Player 2's go; let's say he chooses:
then the four stones in that hollow will go:
- Hollow 12
- Mancala 2 (M2)
- Hollow 1
- Hollow 2
That looks like this:
The rules so far
- Pick up some stones on your side
- Count them one-by-one round the board
- Include your own mancala (oval)
- Don't include your opponent's mancala
If you have really large number of stones in a circle, you might end up going right the way round the board. Remember to include your own mancala (oval hollow), but not to include your opponent's.
Getting Another Go (Chaining Moves)
If your last stone goes into your Mancala (oval), then you get another go. For example:
... Player 1's third and last stone will land in his Mancala. He shall have another go.
Capturing Your Opponent in Mancala
There is one last thing. If your last stone lands in an empty circular hollow on your side, then you capture all the stones in the opposite hollow. So, imagine this situation:
If Player 1 makes the move above, his last stone will end up in an empty hollow, on his own side. Therefore he will CAPTURE all 7 of his opponents' stones in the opposite hollow, and move them to his Mancala. As an added bonus, he also moves the stone itself to the Mancala. So, he will end up with this:
Winning the Game
The game ends when either player has no stones left on their side of the board. When this happens, the other player takes all of the stones on their side of the board, and puts them in his own Mancala.
The winner is the player who has most stones in their Mancala!
Player 2 has won!!
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