Mancala Rules
Mancala is played on a board of twelve small pits and two stores, with 48 stones. Each turn, you scoop all the stones from one of your pits and sow them counterclockwise, one per pit. Land the last stone in your store for an extra turn; land it in an empty pit on your side to capture. When one side empties, the bigger store wins.
This page is the full reference for standard mancala, the ruleset properly called Kalah, which is what almost every American board set and app means by “mancala.” It’s the exact ruleset the game on this site uses, so every rule here is one you can test on a live board. If you’d rather learn by playing a guided first game, start with the how to play walkthrough instead.
The board and setup
The board has two rows of six small pits facing each other, plus a large store (also called a kalah or mancala) at each end. You own the six pits in the row closest to you and the store to your right. Your opponent owns the far row and the store on their right, which sits at your left.
Place four stones in each of the twelve small pits. That’s 48 stones in play. The stores start empty.
Sets sold with three or five stones per pit exist and the rules don’t change; see how many stones in mancala for what each setup does to the game. Board orientation trips up more beginners than any rule, so if you’re unsure which store is yours, the mancala setup guide has you covered.
Decide who moves first however you like; there’s no official rule. Conventions and the fairness question are covered at who goes first in mancala.
How a turn works
- Choose any one of your six pits that contains stones.
- Scoop up all the stones in that pit.
- Moving counterclockwise (toward your own store), drop one stone into each pit you pass.
- When you reach your own store, drop a stone in. When you reach your opponent’s store, skip it. Never put a stone in their store.
- If your hand runs past the end of their row, continue back onto your own side and keep dropping.
Where your last stone lands decides what happens next. Three outcomes exist: an extra turn, a capture, or the end of your turn. The next two sections cover the first two.
A few points that settle common table arguments: you must sow every stone from the chosen pit (no dropping two in one pit, no holding stones back), you can’t skip your own pits, and you can’t pass. If you have at least one non-empty pit, you must move.
The extra turn
If your last stone lands in your own store, you take another turn immediately. There’s no limit; land in your store again and you go again.
You get one free demonstration at the start of every game. Playing your third pit from the left sends its four stones into your fourth pit, fifth pit, sixth pit, and store, in that order. Last stone in the store, extra turn:
Only the last stone matters. Passing through your store mid-sow banks a stone but earns nothing extra. Chaining these free moves is the engine of good mancala; the strategy guide is largely about building and defending them.
Capturing
If your last stone lands in an empty pit on your side, and the opponent’s pit directly opposite contains stones, you capture: your landing stone plus everything in the opposite pit go into your store.
All four conditions have to hold. Last stone, empty pit, your side of the board, stones sitting opposite. A last stone landing in an empty pit on their side does nothing. A middle stone passing through an empty pit does nothing.
One rule splits households: what happens when the opposite pit is empty. In the common tournament rule, which this site’s game uses, nothing is captured; your stone stays put and your turn ends. Many American rule sheets instead let you capture your own lone landing stone. It’s a small difference that matters late in close games, so agree on it before you start. The mancala capture rules page goes deeper on both versions and on defending against captures.
How the game ends
The game ends the moment one player’s six pits are all empty at the end of a move. The other player then sweeps all remaining stones on their own side into their own store.
Count the stores. Most stones wins, and since 48 are in play, 25 guarantees victory. A 24-24 split is a tie. Notice from the example that racing to empty your side can backfire badly; the sweep rule is why endgame counting matters, and how does mancala end walks through when emptying first helps and when it hurts.
Quick reference
| Your last stone lands in… | What happens |
|---|---|
| Your own store | Extra turn |
| An empty pit on your side, stones opposite | Capture both pits’ contents to your store |
| An empty pit on your side, nothing opposite | Turn ends (house rules vary; see below) |
| An empty pit on their side | Turn ends |
| Any occupied small pit | Turn ends |
| Their store | Never happens; you always skip it |
Common house rules and variations
Mancala has been passed around kitchen tables for generations, so no two families play quite alike. The versions you’ll actually run into:
Capture on an empty opposite pit. Covered above. Tournament rule: no capture. Common American rule sheet: capture your own stone. Pick one before the first move.
Three or five stones per pit. Fewer stones make a shorter, sharper game that’s friendlier for kids; more stones stretch it out. Details at how many stones in mancala.
Leftovers don’t count. Some players skip the final sweep and discard the stones left on the slower player’s side. This flips the endgame on its head, rewarding whoever empties first. It’s uncommon, but check.
Clockwise play. A few families sow clockwise (store on the left). The game is identical in mirror image; just make sure both players agree which direction is “forward.”
Multi-lap sowing. If your last stone landing in an occupied pit means you scoop that pit and keep going, you’re playing a relay ruleset. That’s not a corruption of the rules; it’s its own mode with a long history, playable here as Avalanche, and it’s how congkak, sungka, and many African variants have always worked.
Beyond house rules, mancala is a family of hundreds of distinct games. Kalah is just the standard commercial one; oware, bao, and the rest of the mancala variants change far more than a capture clause.
Frequently asked questions
Can you get two extra turns in a row in mancala?
Yes. Every time your last stone lands in your own store you move again, and there’s no cap on chaining them. Skilled players string three or four extra turns together, especially early. Each single-stone move from the pit next to your store is the simplest link in the chain.
Do you ever put stones in your opponent’s store?
No, never. You skip your opponent’s store every time your sowing passes it, in every mode and every common variant. Only your own store collects your stones. If a rule sheet seems to say otherwise, it’s been misread; this one is universal.
What happens if you can’t move in mancala?
If it’s your turn and all six of your pits are empty, the game is over; your opponent sweeps the stones on their side into their store and you count up. You never pass or skip a turn in mancala. If you have even one stone, you must sow it.
Are captured stones ever returned?
No. Stones in either store are out of play permanently; captures and store landings are one-way trips. That’s why a single big capture often decides a game outright. There’s no mechanism in standard rules for stones to leave a store, so protect against captures before they happen, not after.
Is mancala the same as Kalah?
The rules on this page are Kalah, the version designed by William Julius Champion Jr. and sold in the US from the 1940s onward. “Mancala” technically names the whole family of hundreds of related games. In everyday American use the two words point to the same game; the Kalah page covers the history.