When all six pockets on one side of the board are empty, the game ends. If you drop the last stone in an empty pocket on your side of the board, you collect that stone and any stones in the pocket directly across. You can take another turn immediately if the last stone you drop is in your mancala. Do not place stones in your opponent’s mancala. Next, moving counterclockwise from the pocket selected, deposit one stone in each space until you have moved all four stones. Then, they can begin by collecting all four stones in any one of the pockets on their side of the board. Mancala Game Rulesĭecide which player will go first. Players own the mancala on the right-hand side of their row. The two larger pockets on either end of the board are called mancalas. Players will each control the six pockets on the side of the board closest to them. Place four stones into each of the twelve small pockets on the board. The board consists of two rows of six pockets each. What You’ll Need to Play MancalaĮverything you need to play is included in this boxed set.īegin set up by placing the wooden board horizontally between both players. The term Mancala is derived from the Arabic word, manqalah, meaning to move.Īccording to Merriam-Webster’s definition, Mancala now refers to any variety of similarly played games that involve the distribution of pebbles or stones between two players into holes or pockets.ĭuring its early development centuries ago, Mancala was possibly played using seeds or rocks and by digging small holes in the ground instead of using a hand-made board. The Mancala game is thought to have derived from the Egyptians centuries ago and is historically found most commonly in areas of Southern Asia and Africa.
Why We Love It: This “count and capture” game allows players to develop strategic thinking, but it is also portable and easy to play anywhere. Main Objective: The main objective is to capture the most stones from your opponent by the end of the game. The ancient two-player strategy game, Mancala, requires both players to move glass or plastic beads around a wooden tray to collect the most. This Mancala rules guide will cover the following: Read on to learn the Mancala game rules and how to play.
The strategy involved in playing Mancala is often compared to that required to play Chess successfully. The Mancala game rules may appear simple, but there are many variations. The first commercial version was published in the United States in 1891 by the Milton Bradley Company under the name of Chuba.Ī wooden version of the game was produced in the 1950s by the Kalah Game Company, Holbrook.One of the oldest known board games to date, Mancala, is a strategy two-player game that requires the movement of stones or beads around a board made from wood or clay. There are a number of commercial versions of the game. The USA has also a larger mancala playing population. Mancala is played today primarily in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean area. But still mancala boards were found in ancient castles in Germany, Islamic cultures name the game with respect to the physical action that takes place during the game calling the game "mancala" (The word "mancala" means to move in Arabic).Ĭount-and-Capture Games were never very popular in Europe, except in the Baltic area, where they loved the game Bohnenspiel. In certain West-African dialects the holes in the board are referred to as warri or awari and in those cultures the game is called "Wari". The number of seeds and the number of holes featured depends on the type of game. These versions of the game typically contain holes which house marbles or rocks, seeds or beans, or other small round objects called “seeds”. In the agora of Izmir, a Mancala board was found which proofs that the Romans and ancient Greeks also played the game. Parts of Africa and then to the Middle East.
Stone Mancala boards from 1400BC have been found carved into the roofs of Kurna temples in Memphis, Thebes and Luxor. It's origins are rooted in ancient Egypt. Earlier version of Mancala games used primitive tools constructed of wood or clay, or the game board Mancala is one of the oldest two-player strategy games in the world and has been played throughout Asia and Africa for over 7.000 years.
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