Mancala · Rules & strategy

Board and setup

The game is played on a Philippine sungka board. The seven small pits on the row nearest you are yours, and the big store at your right-hand end is your store. Every small pit starts with four seeds (five, or seven as in traditional sungka, as options) and both stores start empty. Because 3D seeds are hard to count, a number floats beside every pit.

Sowing

On your turn, tap one of your pits that holds seeds. All its seeds are lifted and dropped one at a time into the following pits, moving to your right (counter-clockwise seen from above). You sow into your own store but skip your opponent’s store. A large pile can travel all the way round and drop a seed back into the pit it came from.

Extra turns

If the last seed lands in your own store, you immediately move again. Bonus turns can chain, so look for pits whose seed count exactly matches the distance to your store.

Captures

If the last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit directly opposite holds seeds, you take those seeds plus your last seed into your store. If the opposite pit is empty, nothing is captured. Ending in a pit on your opponent’s side never captures.

End of the game

As soon as all seven pits on either side are empty, the game ends. Any seeds left on the other side go to that side’s owner. The player with more seeds in their store wins; equal stores are a draw.

Our rule choices

Traditional sungka has a simultaneous opening and “relay” sowing, where you keep going from the pit your last seed lands in, and details vary from village to village. For clear, fair online play we use the well-known Kalah rules on the seven-pit board. Online, if your time runs out, a random legal pit is played for you.

Take the store moves first

A pit whose seed count equals its distance to your store earns a bonus turn. Playing a far pit first often changes the counts of nearer pits and spoils their bonus, so cash in the bonus closest to your store first and plan chains from right to left.

Empty pits are traps and chances

When an empty pit on your side faces a big pile, look for a move that ends there. Conversely, a big pile of yours opposite an empty enemy pit is in danger — move it, or change the counts so your opponent cannot finish in that pit.

Hoard on your side

Keeping seeds in the pits nearest your store means fewer seeds spill over to your opponent, and whatever remains at the end is yours. Hoard too much in one place, though, and it becomes a juicy capture target.

Using the AI levels

Easy often picks a careless pit, which makes it a friendly way to learn the rules. Normal reads several moves ahead and hunts captures. Hard searches as deep as its time budget allows and rarely misses a combination of bonus turns and captures.

FAQ