About the game
Play Mancala (Kalah) online
Sow your seeds round the board, land in your store to go again, and bank the most.
Play Mancala (Kalah) free in your browser: the computer, a friend on one screen, or invite a friend online with a link. Sow seeds and fill your store.
Play vs the computer, pass the phone to a friend, invite a friend online, or play someone new. When nobody’s free, one of our robot players may step in. Free, in your browser, no sign-up.
How to play Mancala
- 1Pick who you’re playing: the computer, a friend online with a room code, a friend on the same screen, or someone new with Quick match.
- 2On your turn, tap one of the six pits on your side. You pick up every seed in it.
- 3The seeds go one per pit, counter-clockwise, dropping into your own store as they pass it.
- 4If your last seed lands in your store, you go again. If it lands in an empty pit on your side, you capture it and every seed in the pit opposite.
- 5When either side runs out of seeds the game ends, and whoever has the most seeds in their store wins.
Rules
- Kalah rules, the version most people know as Mancala: 6 pits a side with 4 seeds in each (48 in all), and one store per player.
- Seeds are sown one per pit, counter-clockwise, and skip your opponent's store.
- If the last seed lands in your own store, you take another turn.
- If the last seed lands in one of your own empty pits and the pit opposite has seeds, you capture both into your store.
- The game ends as soon as either side is empty, and each player's leftover seeds go to their own store. Most seeds wins; 24–24 is a draw.
Mancala questions
How do you win at Mancala?
Have the most seeds in your store at the end. There are 48 seeds, so 25 is a win. Count before every move: a pit that holds exactly as many seeds as it is steps from your store lands its last seed in your store and gives you another turn.
What's the best first move in Mancala?
Play the pit four steps from your store (the third from the far end). It has 4 seeds, so the last one lands in your store and you go again. Then play the pit next to your store.
How do captures work?
If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit opposite has seeds, you take both into your store. A pit with exactly 13 seeds always captures.
Is Mancala the same as Kalah?
Mancala is a whole family of seed-sowing games. Kalah is the one most people mean, and it's the one we have: six pits a side, four seeds in each, a store at each end.
Is Mancala solved?
Yes. Kalah with six pits and four seeds has been worked out by computer: with perfect play the first player wins, by 8 to 10 seeds depending on the capture rule. People rarely play perfectly, so counting still wins most games.
Can I play Mancala with a friend online?
Yes. Tap Invite a friend and send them the link; when they open it you're in the same game. Or pass one phone or tablet between you.
How hard is the computer?
Three levels. Easy picks a random pit, Medium grabs what it can right now, and Hard thinks far ahead. Medium is the place to practise captures that take two moves to set up.
The full guides: Mancala rules: how to play Kalah and Mancala strategy: how to win more games