Strategy · two players

Mancala

The oldest counting game there is. Lift the seeds from one of your pits, sow them round the board and bank more than your opponent.

Opponent

Level

First move

: 0
: 0
Moves: 0

How to play

Tap one of the six pits on your side. Its seeds are sown one per pit anticlockwise, dropping into your own store on the way and skipping the other store.

If the last seed lands in your store you move again. If it lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit opposite holds seeds, you capture those seeds together with the last one.

When either side is empty, the other player keeps every seed left on their side. Most seeds in the store takes the game.

Worth knowing

A pit whose seed count reaches your store exactly gives you a second move. Chain two or three of them before the opponent gets a turn.

An empty pit on your side facing a full one is a capture waiting to happen. Count the seeds before you leave it empty.