The rules Suvi plays
Rules vary from family to family, and small details change the whole game. Suvi uses the classic six-pit rules, and these are the details that matter:
- Twelve pits holding four seeds each: 48 seeds in all.
- Seeds go round counter-clockwise, into your store but never your opponent's.
- Last seed in your store: you go again.
- Finish in one of your own pits that was empty, with seeds facing it: that seed and the seeds opposite go to your store. Facing an empty pit, nothing is captured.
- When either row is empty, the seeds left in the other row go to that row's owner.
You play the near row, sowing towards the store on your right. Below, your pits are counted 1 to 6 from your left.
Count seeds to land in your store
A free turn is the cheapest gain in the game. A pit gives you one when its seeds exactly reach your store:
| Pit | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seeds | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Add 13 for a pit that goes all the way round: 19 seeds in pit 1 also finish in your store.
When two pits line up, play the one nearer the store first. Say pit 6 has one seed and pit 5 has two:
- Play pit 6: one seed into the store. Go again.
- Play pit 5: one seed into pit 6, one into the store. Go again.
- Play pit 6 again: one seed into the store. Go again.
Play pit 5 first and pit 6 ends up with two seeds, one too many, and the chain stops.
On the very first move, pit 3 holds four seeds and is four steps from your store, so whoever starts gets a free turn straight away. A popular follow-up is pit 6: it adds another seed to your store and leaves the pit next to it empty, ready to refill one seed at a time for later free turns.
Setting up captures
A capture needs two things: an empty pit of yours with seeds opposite it, and a pit of yours whose last seed lands there exactly. Look for big piles in your opponent's row, check the pit facing each one, and count whether any of your pits reaches it.
You can also make the empty pit yourself. Playing a pit empties it; if a later sowing of yours can end there, the pile opposite is yours.
One special case: a pit with exactly 13 seeds goes all the way round, skipping their store, and its last seed lands back in the pit it came from. That pit is empty and the pit opposite has just received a seed, so a 13-seed pit always captures.
Stopping their captures
Before each move, look at your opponent's empty pits and the piles of yours facing them. A pile is in danger if any of their pits can land exactly in the empty pit opposite it. You have three fixes:
- Move the pile, ideally with a sowing that ends in your store.
- Drop a seed into their empty pit. Once it isn't empty, a last seed landing there captures nothing.
- Change their count: a sowing that adds a seed to the pit that would reach it makes it overshoot.
Remember that free turns let your opponent empty a pit and land in it in the same turn, so count their chains too.
Keep seeds on your side
When one row runs dry, the other player keeps every seed still on their side. So seeds in your row can count as much as seeds in your store, as long as they are safe from capture.
Late in the game, count both rows. If your opponent's row is nearly empty, avoid sowings that spill seeds onto their side. Play small pits near your store that end in the store or stay in your row, and let them run out first. If your own row is nearly empty, the reverse applies: every seed you sow onto their side is one you probably won't see again.
A big pile is both savings and a target. Keep it where the pit opposite isn't empty, or where none of their sowings can end in it.
If you only remember three things
- Count before you sow, and play the pit nearest your store first when free turns line up.
- Check every empty pit, yours and theirs, before you move.
- Near the end, keep seeds on your side and let your opponent run dry.
Twenty-five seeds in your store wins outright, so count to 25 as the game goes on. Practise on mancala against the computer: Easy misses captures, Medium looks a few sowings ahead, and Hard plays the endgame perfectly. For another classic, try Nine Men's Morris.
Questions
- What if my last seed lands in one of my opponent's empty pits?
- Nothing happens: the seed stays there and the turn passes. Captures only happen in empty pits on your own side.
- What happens with 13 or more seeds in one pit?
- The seeds go all the way round the board, skipping your opponent's store, and the pit you started from gets one on the way. With exactly 13, the last seed lands back in that pit and captures whatever is opposite.
- Do seeds left on the board count at the end?
- Yes. When either row is empty, the seeds still in the other row go into that row owner's store before the totals are compared.
- Is it better to go first?
- A little, because the first player can take a free turn from pit 3 straight away. Suvi lets you choose who goes first, so swap round between games.
- Why is a free turn so valuable?
- It puts a seed in your store and lets you move again before your opponent can answer, so you can set up a capture or move a pile out of danger in the same turn.
Play it now
Mancala is free on Suvi, on your phone or computer, no download. Also: Mancala vs Computer · 2 Player Mancala · Mancala With a Friend Online.