How do you play Mancala?

Answer 1

Mancala has a number of variations in which "seeds" or stones are placed in or removed from a wooden playing dish. Two versions popular in the West are Kalah and Oware (the national game of Ghana).

On the game site Poptropica, mancala is a variation of Kalah, played using a tray with 2 large "player pits" on either side and 12 smaller pits arranged in two rows. At the start of the game, there are 3 pebbles in each of the 12 small pits. Players take turns moving the pebbles from pit to pit, moving clockwise. A pit is chosen on the player's side, and emptied of pebbles by leaving 1 in each pit as they move. If the last pebble lands in the player's own pit, he gets another turn. If the last pebble lands in an empty pit on that player's side, it and the pebbles from the corresponding opponent's pit are scored to the moving player's pit. When either side is empty, all pebbles remaining are go to the player on whose side they remained. The player with the most pebbles wins.

(see the related link for variations)

(see the related Poptropica question)

Answer 2

The best way to win mancala every time is to go first. The first player wins the game the vast majority of the time. Another good way to win a mancala game is by always having a good count of how many stones are in each of your pits. This is important because you can link moves together (if your last stone falls in your mancala you get to go again). Also the "wrap around" move for capturing your opponents stones. For instance, a pit with 13 stones will land back in its own spot. So if your pit that has 13 is across from an opponents that has a lot of pebbles to then you know if you select your pit with 13 that it will capture your opponents.

Answer 3

The Mancala rules are located at the Pressman Toy Corporation website. If you own the game, try looking in the box for the instruction sheet. The instructions might also be located on the box itself.