Mancala

Your goal is to get more gems into your mancala (the large cup on the right) than your opponent can get into its mancala (on the left). You get to start, then your opponent takes their turn, and so on.

Mancala Instructions

This ancient game doesn’t take too long to learn. While there are a few small rules that you will pick up along the way, the 4 main rules are pretty basic.

Rule #1

You can only move the gems on your side (which is the bottom row). Once it gets to your opponent’s side that is opposite of you, the gems are mostly out of your control.

Rule #2

To move, you click on one of the cups in your row. This picks up all the pieces in that cup and deposits them counter-clockwise, putting one gem in each cup, until there are no gems left to deposit. (You'll see!)

Rule #3

If the last gem of your move lands in your mancala, you get to go again. This rule is extremely important. The more moves that players get, the more opportunities they have to gain a leg-up against their opponent.

Rule #4

If the last gem of your move lands in an empty cup on your side and there are gems in the opponent's cup across from it, then all the gems in both cups get put into your mancala, and your turn ends normally.