Rules / How to play Mancala
How to play Mancala
Mancala is a game for two players. Each player sows seeds around a row of pits and collects them in a store. The player with more seeds in their store at the end wins. This page uses the Kalah rules, the version printed with most boards. For seed-count variants, the empty-capture rule, the pie rule and the solved-game results, see the full Kalah rules.
Updated 9 September 2026
- Set up: four seeds in each of the twelve small pits. The six pits nearest you are yours; the large pit on your right is your store.
- Sow: pick up all the seeds in one of your pits and drop one in each pit to the right, including your store. Skip the opponent's store.
- Extra turn: if the last seed lands in your store, move again.
- Capture: if the last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the opposite pit holds seeds, take both into your store.
- End: when one row is empty the game ends. The other player collects their row. The larger store wins.
The board
Sit opposite each other. The six pits nearest you are yours. The large pit at your right-hand end is your store. The game starts with four seeds in each of the twelve small pits and nothing in the stores.
The goal is to end with more seeds in your store than your opponent has in theirs.
A turn
Pick up all the seeds in one of your six pits. Moving to the right, drop one seed in each pit in turn. When you reach your own store, drop a seed in it. Keep going along the far side if you still have seeds in hand. Skip the opponent's store; never drop a seed there.
That is the whole move. Two special cases decide the game.
The extra turn
If the last seed you drop lands in your own store, you move again. There is no limit: a skilled player chains several extra turns in a row.
The capture
The last seed lands in an empty pit on your side. If the opposite pit holds seeds, you capture. Take the seeds from the opposite pit and your last seed, and put them all in your store. If the opposite pit is empty, nothing happens; the seed stays where it landed.
The end
The game ends the moment one row of six pits is empty. The other player takes every seed still on their own side and puts it in their store. Count the stores: the larger one wins. Equal stores are a draw.
A worked turn
Your pits, left to right, hold 4-4-4-4-4-4. You pick up the third pit: four seeds. They fall in pits four, five, six and your store. The last seed landed in your store, so you move again.
Now you pick up the sixth pit, which holds five seeds. They fall in your store and in the first four pits on the far side. Your store holds two. It is your opponent's turn.
Opening with the third pit is the standard first move. It is the only pit that reaches the store on the first turn. That gives a free second move.
Questions
How many seeds do you start with in Mancala?
Four in each of the twelve small pits, 48 in total. Some boards come with three or five per pit; the rules are the same.
Can you put seeds in the opponent's store?
No. You always skip the opponent's store when sowing.
Who wins if the game ends and seeds are left on the board?
The player whose row still has seeds takes them all into their store. Then the stores are compared.
Is Mancala the same as Kalah?
Kalah is one game in the Mancala family, the version sold as "Mancala" in most shops. When people say Mancala they usually mean Kalah. Oware, Congklak and Bao are other members with different capture and end rules.