How to play Mancala

Mancala is a 2 person strategy game. This overview explains the basic rules which may vary by family, state, or country. Refer to the official instructions for details.

[olives]

I grew up playing this in summer camp, and randomly thought of it! Brings back memories

[LisaTigressHardy]

The way i learned to play Mancala was in 5th grade during the before school morning program in the cafeteria, and when the last stone lands in yourn mancala yes you go again, but if your last stone lands in an empty hole, your turn is over and if your last stone lands in a full hole, you pick up the stones and keep going til the last one is in an empty hole.

[trashcatlinol]

My five year old received this game as a gift, and I had never heard of it before. The included instructions were...not very good, I thought. Watching your video helped clarify the instructions and we just got done playing! It was so simple and so much fun! Thanks for sharing!

[laurenrhoads]

She is not playing it wrong. There are many ways to play. This is the original way to play

[Nibbler]

Some historians believe that mancala is the oldest game in the world based on the archaeological evidence found in Jordan that dates around 6000 BCE. The game might have been played by ancient Nabataeans and could have been an ancient version of the modern mancala game.

[gamechanger]

Southeast Asia has many variations of these games, like Chess it spread far and wide. The one in my country Sungka uses tiny seashells and in some occasions pebbles. And we use 7x7 instead of the 6x6 mancala, the ammount of shells/stones is 49 for both sides. Also we go clockwise instead of the traditional counter clockwise.

[thenigglefish]

I used to play this with my aunt as a kid, randomly saw Mancala while highly looking at old board games. Realized I had no idea how to play anymore. Gotta play mancala soon!

[ikeyasector]

There are many different rules but these are the rules I recently learned. I like ancient games like this. I work with wood as a hobby and would like to make my own board like this. I'm also wanting to make my own Mills board as well.

[regalternative]

This is the correct way to play. The other way that people talk about is super broken and gives a major first player advantage.

[sunnyscott]

She is right and this is a simple straightforward explanation.
There are other variations of the same game which makes it confusing.

[naomigalore]

She’s playing the right way. This is exactly how it is described on the manual if you all bought the damn game. I don’t play like this and never have but I’m reading the Manual and it’s exactly how she’s doing it

[michaelnyethevsauceguy]

"You're playing it wrong." -Guy who went to a Mancala tutorial, a tutorial to LEARN Mancala.

[lc]

We play that if your last stone lands in a bucket with stones in it you take those stones and keep going until you land in a empty bucket then your turn is over

[ThePsh]

My math teacher in 8th grade had this in her classroom. The other students and I would play it if we finished our assignments before class ended.

Found an old set in my parents house and had to look this up to remember the rules. Thank you. 🙏

[evilfpv]

This seems to be the most popular way to play but isn't the player with stones left on his side at the end supposed to put them in his mancala?

[RandySpeer]

According to the directions that come with the game, if your last Stone lands on your side in an empty space, and the opponents side has pieces in it, you take those pieces and put them in your mancala, but it does NOT say to add your piece as well (your final piece that ended in the empty space).

[sylvia]

*At **1:29**....when you drop your last marble on the opponent's side....since it is empty....can you "capture" the stones across it? (which in essence is your side.)*

[KateheGreat]

I'm 33 and we were always taught to play going to the left. So looking at the board, the left big cup is my home cup and the large cup on the right is the opponents home cup. This blew my mind that we've been going in the wrong direction for YEARS! 🤣🤣🤣

[tonightsbigloser]

SHEEPLE THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE RIGHT WAY TO PLAY.
NOT JUST BY CONTINUING WHERE YOU LAST PLACED YOUR STONE, THERE'S NO ORDER IN THAT WHAT ARE YOU THINKING. YOU SHOULD HAVE A FAIR AND INTELLECTUAL TIME WITH THIS EXCELLENT OLD GAME SHOW IT SOME RESPECT AND HAVE SOME DIGNITY THIS GENERATION I SWEAR TO GOD

[altheacolleenceblano]

Just like sungka. With wooden board and instead of stones, we use tiny seashells.