Mancala

How to play

Mancala is played on a board with two rows of six pits and a store for each player. Every pit starts with four seeds. On your turn, pick one of your own pits that has seeds in it: all its seeds are sown one by one into the following pits, counter-clockwise, including your own store but skipping your opponent's store. If your last seed lands in your store, you take another turn. If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit directly opposite holds seeds, you capture them: both your seed and the opponent's seeds go into your store. The game ends as soon as one side has no seeds left; the other player then moves all the seeds left on their side into their own store. Whoever has more seeds in their store wins, and a tie is possible. In this game your pits are the left column, and you sow downwards towards your store at the bottom. Against the computer, your winning margin is your score for that difficulty.

Tips

• Open with the pit that ends exactly in your store: its extra turn lets you move again right away.
• Pits close to your store are your best source of extra turns, so play them often to keep them small.
• Watch the empty pits on your side: a single seed dropped into one can capture a big pile opposite.
• Before each move, check which of your full pits your opponent could capture and defend or empty them.
• Building up one large pit can pay off later: a pit with 13 seeds goes all the way round and lands back in its own empty pit for a capture.
• Near the end, count the seeds: if your opponent's side is almost empty, keep yours full so the leftovers count for you.