Learn Kalah.
Six pits per side. Four seeds per pit. Every seed counts.
Which mancala?
Mancala is a family of games, not one universal ruleset. This table plays Kalah (6,4): six pits per player, starting with four seeds in each. We do not present it as the rules of every mancala tradition.
Our explicit playing profile: South always starts; no pie/swap rule. The board stays in a fixed orientation for players and spectators. South is the bottom row, with the store on the right. North is the top row, with the store on the left.
One handful, one circuit.
- Choose a nonempty pit on your own side. Lift all its seeds and sow them one at a time into successive pits around the board.
- Follow the arrows: across South’s row toward the right, then across North’s row toward the left. Include your own store; skip your opponent’s store. If you complete a circuit, continue sowing.
- If your final seed enters your own store, take another turn—unless the move ends the game.
- If your final seed enters an empty pit on your side and the opposite pit contains seeds, capture those opposite seeds together with your final seed into your store. An empty opposite pit means no capture.
- When either row becomes empty, the game ends immediately. Sweep any seeds left in the other row into that row’s owner’s store. Higher score wins; 24–24 is a draw.
01 / Your first extra turn
At the start, South’s third pit from the left holds four seeds. Choose it.
Four seeds → pit 4 → pit 5 → pit 6 → your store.
South store: 1. South plays again. The opposite row stays unchanged.
02 / Capture across the board
The landing pit was empty before the last seed arrived. Both pits are emptied into your store. This capture alone does not grant an extra turn.
Read the table.
Large numerals are exact seed counts. Decorative seed dots are capped at twelve so crowded pits stay readable. Gold rings mark choices issued by the server; a dashed ring marks where the last seed landed. Arrow keys move focus around the pits; Enter or Space chooses a legal pit. There is no timed sowing animation to wait for.
A friend, a computer, or a gallery.
Choose either side. Share the opponent invitation privately, or choose a computer difficulty from 400–2400 in 100-point steps. These are approximate difficulty labels, not measured or calibrated Elo ratings. Up to twelve invited spectators may watch. Keep the same browser tab to reconnect; private seat credentials are stored for that tab. Friend games support agreed draws and resignation.
Rules reference & implementation
The core sowing, capture, extra-turn and endgame rules follow DonkeyCat’s published “How to play Mancala” guide. South-first and no-swap are the explicit profile choices above. Teaching examples and interface guidance describe this arcade implementation.
The native assembly engine adjudicates all moves and computer choices. Handwritten WebAssembly decodes the board and matches legal actions; JavaScript provides the interface and network transport.