MANCALA

The Basic Rules of Mancala

There are dozens of versions of mancala played around the world. It's a type of game, but it's not a brand or trademarked game. Below, you'll find a basic version of the game, known as two-rank mancala. The objective is to capture more stones than your opponent.

Decide who goes first with a coin flip or other method. There are three steps to playing the game. Each game lasts around five to 10 minutes.

1. Place four stones into each of the pits.

2. The starting player grabs all the stones from one hole on their side and drops them, one by one, into each pit around the board going in a counter-clockwise direction. If the player passes over one of the mancala stores or bowls, he or she would place a stone in there, too. Once the player doesn't have any more stones in hand, it's the other person's turn to do the same thing.

3. If a player has enough stones to hit their own store, they place a stone in it. If it's the player's last stone, they get a free turn to go again. If you pass over another player's store during your turn, you do not place a stone in their pit.

4. The game ends when one player has emptied the six holes of stones on their side. The other player then takes all the stones on their own side and places them into their store (or bowl).

5. The winner of the game is the player with the most stones in their mancala store.