

The word “mancala” is derived from the Arabic word “naqala” which means “to move” and is generally used to describe a family of board games that represents sowing and harvesting. This paradoxical quality is likely why mancala has been played for literally thousands of years. Though it has fewer pieces than Monopoly, it hardly requires less strategy it has simple rules, but it’s not easy to win. Played by school children and bar patrons alike, the game is immensely popular and we all have a cousin or a friend with a board and a set of marbles. Step 5: The player that has the highest number of stones on the Mancala board comes out victorious as the winner of the game.Mancala is a game that makes regular appearances at board game nights. The opponent will pick the stones he/she has captured and place them all in their bowl. Step 4: The game will end when one of the players empty the stones in his/her row of the board. Don’t place a stone in the pit of your opponent if you pass over their store while playing your turn. Step 3: In an instance where a player has enough stones to place one in his store, the player gets to play again if it’s the last stone in his hands at that moment. Once the first player has exhausted all the stones in his hands, it’s the turn of the second player. Step 2: The first player will grab the stones from one of the holes on their side of the board and drop a seed into each hole in a counter-clockwise movement. Step 1: Put four Mancala stones into each of the pits on both sides of the Mancala board. Most times, a game lasts between five to ten minutes, so you can always reverse the position of the first player for the subsequent game. As such, you should employ dice roll, coin flip, or any other method to come up with the first player. This usually causes a lot of strife because the first player has some advantages over the opponent. Do this for the six-hole till you exhaust the 24 stones you’re given.ĭecide within yourselves the person that’ll go first in the game. Then give each one 24 stones, and ask each one to put four stones in one pit. The two players will sit on the opposite side of the board-the sitting arrangement should be one where the players are facing the long side of the board. If you have lots of coins in your vicinity then you can use that instead. Apart from that, you need 48 stones, chips, or marbles of your preferred color and type. If you’re using an egg carton, you’ll need a bowl for the Mancala pit-each player needs a bowl. An alternative to the Mancala board is to get an egg carton. One of those items is a Mancala board, and it has 12 holes arranged in 6 per row. You’ll need to get some items to play Mancala.

You’ll have to do this within the armpit of the rules guiding the game. The objective of the game is to capture more Mancala seeds than the opponent. Although the game is a traditional one that started hundreds of years ago, it still has a modern relevance as a means to whine away time and for its benefit to the psychological and mental function of the body. If you need a game that you can play with your friends, colleagues, or family while improving your cognitive ability through strategic thinking and counting skills, then you should try playing this ancient game called Mancala.
