Mancala Game

This Mancala game is a traditional Africa board game and is one of a family of games that play a role in Africa somewhat similar to chess in the West. Even very young children can learn how to play Mancala, although there are some variations depending on which country you are playing it in, and whilst children can learn to play, it does take a bit of time and skill to learn the strategies required to play successfully. One of the reasons of the popularity of Mancala is that it can be played in the ground using little more than stones as play pieces making it accessible to everyone, rich or poor.

The name Mancala itself is a rough translation of the Arabic 'to move' which is exactly what's involved when playing the traditional African game of Mancala. The aim of the Mancala game is to collect as many stones in the cup on your furthest right as you can. Each player (you and your device) chooses a cup then, starting with the next cup, drops one stone in each cup going counterclockwise (including the Store) until all of the stones are played out. The game ends when either player has no more stones in their six circles. Mancala is played across Africa and some consider it to be one of the world's oldest games played by Royalty and commoners alike. Its enduring appeal is that it's a family game, is used for competitions and many children see mastering its strategy a right of passage. Every year hundreds of tournaments take place across the world to see who's the Mancala master! This video BELOW shows you how to play Mancala in a series of step by step instructions.