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A quick run-down of the Mancala rules for beginner players
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Mancala is a family of board games played around the world, sometimes called "sowing" games, or "count-and-capture" games. Kalah is a form of the popular board game Mancala family, and it's probably the game you're thinking about when you say "Mancala." So, are you ready to get started? Read on to learn all the basics about this easy and fun game.
Steps
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Look for first-player advantages. The first player has a considerable advantage, but this doesn't matter much on your first couple of plays. After you and your opponent have each had an opportunity to go first, you should consider playing with the pie rule (as described below in method 2), but it's easiest to start with this method first, which follows standard rules of play. [1] X Research source -
Place the board in-between the 2 players. The 2 players should be seated opposite each-other, with the board oriented horizontally between them. Technically this orientation is not mandatory, but it is the standard arrangement, and the rest of the instructions are written under the assumption that you're seated in this fashion.Advertisement -
Place the seeds in the pits. You have 48 tokens - called seeds - total, and 12 concave indentations - called pits. This means there should be four seeds in each pit. Do not place seeds in the larger basins on either end of the board. Those are not pits, they are the stores. -
Find your store. Your store is the big basin to your right. It is where captured pieces are placed. -
Understand the object of the game. The goal is to collect over half of the seeds (at least 25) in your store. -
Choose which player is going to go first. As mentioned above, the first player has an advantage. However, complete beginners probably won't capitalize on this advantage, so for your first couple of games you can simply select the first player at random. -
Take turns sowing seeds. On each player's turn, they choose one pit on their side of the board (ie. one of the 6 pits in the row closer to them), and "sow" the seeds in that pit. The selected pit must not be empty . To sow the seeds, take all of the seeds out of the selected pit. Then, proceeding counter-clockwise, place one seed in each of the subsequent pits. So, if you select a pit with 4 seeds in it, all 4 seeds should be removed, and the next 4 pits should each have 1 seed added to them. You also place seeds in your own store, but not your opponent's store. If you have enough seeds to reach your opponent's store, simply skip it and place the next seed in the first pit of your own row. -
Capture seeds. If the last seed sown in step 6 is placed in an empty pit on your side of the board, and there are seeds in the adjacent pit on the opponent's side of the board, take all seeds in the aforementioned adjacent pit, and the seed which was just sown, and place them in your store. -
Sow extra seeds. If the last seed sown in step 6 is placed in your store, select another pit of seeds to sow as described in step 6. This can happen again any number of times in a row. -
End the game when one player's 6 pits are all empty. The player who still has seeds left in their pits captures those seeds and puts them in their store. Players compare the number of seeds in their store. The player with the most seeds wins. If both players have the same number of seeds, it's a tie. Note that a player is guaranteed to win if they ever accumulate over half of the seeds in their store - so you can choose to end the game as soon as you notice that either player has accumulated more than 24 seeds. In this case, that player would win.
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Look at the offset first-play advantages. To offset the first-play advantage mentioned above in method 1, many players choose to use the pie rule. The pie rule is so named because it mimics the technique many use for divvying up the last piece of pie - one person cuts, the other chooses. The only thing that the pie rule changes is how the game starts, the rest of the game remains the same. The following 2 steps should be carried out after the first player is selected, as described in step 5 above. [2] X Research source -
The first player (the "cutter") takes the first turn as usual. -
The second player selects which side of the board they wish to play. They have 2 options, either they take a normal turn, in which case play proceeds as usual, or they steal the first turn. If they choose to steal the first turn, rotate the board. From here, it is as if the chooser took the first turn. The cutter takes the second turn, and play proceeds as usual.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionCan you still play if you have lost pieces?Community AnswerYes, just find the appropriate substitute. For example, go outside and find small pebbles or stones.
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QuestionCan there be three pebbles in only one of the cups?HannahCommunity AnswerIt isn't a good idea to start off with only three pebbles in only one of the cups, as that provides a little bit of disadvantage to either player. Some alternatives if you lost a piece is to find a small substitute or instead make all of the cups have three, taking away one pebble from all of the holes that have four in them.
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QuestionDo I take another turn when my last pebble is on my side and I put myself and my opponents in the mancala?Community AnswerYou take another turn when the last pebble of your hole you pick up ends in your mancala.
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Tips
- When playing with the pie rule, the first player should play a suboptimal first turn, because if they choose too strong of an opening the other player will just steal it.Thanks
- The pie rule can be applied to almost any game where the first player has an advantage, not only Kalah!Thanks
- For a more complex game, you can start with 5 or 6 seeds in each pit, and for a simpler game you can play with 3. If your Kalah set didn't come with extra seeds, you can improvise with beads, dried legumes, marbles, or anything else you have on hand that's of a similar size to the seeds your game came with.Thanks
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Things You'll Need
- A Kalah-board
- 72 playing pieces
- 2 players (only)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/022976883/publication/US2720362A?q=pn%3DUS2720362A
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://gambiter.com/mancala/Pie_rule.html
- [1] X Research source
- [2] X Research source
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