Game set up:
The board is set with six small pits on each side of the board, and one large pit on either end which are called mancalas. Each small pit will begin with 3, 4, or 5 game pieces in it and the mancalas will be empty. The mancala to the right is always your mancala. This is where you collect the game pieces.
Object of the game:
To collect more game pieces in your mancala than your opponent.
Rules of the game:
- The first person to enter the game is automatically the first player, and is awarded the first turn.
- At your turn you will have 2 minutes to complete it. The pits on the bottom of the game board, the side closest to you, contain your game pieces. You must click on an individual pit with game pieces in it to move. NOTE: You can only click on pits on your side of the board, when the game pieces leave your side of the board they no longer belong to you.
- TIP: Imagine that your pits are numbered 1-6 from left to right on your side of the board to help learn to play.
- The pit you click on will empty the game pieces it contains into the pits to the right of it, leaving only one of its game pieces in each pit until it runs out.
- For example, if you click on a pit number 1 containing four game pieces, the computer will place one game piece into each of the four pits to the right, going counterclockwise so that there is one game piece added to pit 2, one to pit 3, one to pit 4, and one to pit 5.
- If you have enough game pieces in the pit to reach or pass through your mancala, one game piece will fall into it as if it was jut another pit, however these pieces cannot be moved any longer and are now added to your score which is indicated as a number in your mancala. NOTE: If your opponent sends game pieces towards your mancala, they will skip it as if it was not a pit.
- You can gain an extra turn if the final game piece from the pit you are emptying falls directly into your mancala, and leaves no others to fall onto your opponent's side.
- You can also capture game pieces from your opponent's side by emptying one of your pits. The catch is that the last game piece from that pit must fall into an empty pit on your side. For example, if you click on pit number 1 and it has two game pieces in it, the computer will place one in pit number 2 and one in pit number 3. If pit number 3 is empty before the last game piece falls there, it counts as a capture.
- If that happens, you can capture all of the game pieces from your opponent's pit directly across from where your last game piece falls.
- The capturer (the last game piece that falls into the empty pit) and the captured game pieces are all removed from the board and added to your mancala. If the pit on your opponent's side directly across from yours has no game pieces in it, there is nothing to capture and it is like any other turn.
- The game ends when one side of the board is completely emptied of all game pieces, excluding the mancala.
- At the end of the game, if you have any pieces left on your side of the board, they are added to your mancala.
- The person with the most game pieces in their mancala is the winner.
