How many stones do you start with in mancala?

Four stones in each of the twelve small pits, for 48 total. Both stores begin empty. Some sets and house rules deal three per pit (36 stones) for a shorter game or five (60) for a longer one; the rules stay identical either way. Four is the standard tournament and app setup.

Which side of the mancala board is mine?

The row of six small pits closest to you, plus the large store on your right. Both players see the same arrangement from their own seat. You may only start moves from your own six pits, though your stones will pass through and land in your opponent’s pits constantly.

Do stones go in the stores during setup?

No. Both stores start empty, always. Stores only fill during play, from sowing past your own store or from captures. If a “setup” diagram shows stones in a store, it’s showing a mid-game position, not the start. All 48 stones begin spread across the twelve small pits.

Does it matter which direction you sow?

Standard play is counterclockwise, toward your own store, and that’s what this site’s game uses. Some families play clockwise with the store on the left; the game is a perfect mirror and nothing else changes. What matters is that both players agree before the first move.

Mancala Setup

To set up mancala, place the board lengthwise between the two players and put four stones in each of the twelve small pits, leaving both large end stores empty. Each player owns the row of six pits nearest them and the store on their own right. Decide who goes first any way you like.

Thirty seconds of setup, but two details in it (which store is yours, and which direction you’ll sow) cause most beginner confusion at the table. This page settles both, plus the alternate stone counts printed in various rule sheets. It’s part of the full mancala rules reference.

The standard setup

Lay the board between you so each player faces a row of six small pits, with a large store at each end. Distribute four stones into every small pit. The stores start empty; nothing ever begins in a store.

The standard setup: four stones in each of the twelve pits, 48 stones total, stores empty.

Any small objects work if your set is missing pieces: dried beans, marbles, coins, buttons. Traditional boards across the world use seeds and cowrie shells, and the game plays identically with pen caps. What matters is the count, covered in detail at how many stones in mancala.

Which store is yours

Your store is the large pit on your right. Always. Both players sit opposite each other, so both see their own store on their own right; the board is symmetric and nobody has to sit in a special seat.

The reason it’s the right one: mancala is sown counterclockwise, and counterclockwise from your row means your rightmost pit empties naturally into the store beside it. If you ever forget mid-game, trace it: scoop an imaginary handful from your leftmost pit and walk it along your own row. The store your hand reaches at the end of your row is yours.

The matching rule: you drop stones into your own store as you pass, and you always skip your opponent’s. Their store might as well not exist for your stones.

Which pits are yours

The six small pits in the row closest to you. You can only start a move from one of these six. Your stones will frequently land in your opponent’s pits during sowing, and theirs in yours; that’s normal and those stones now belong to whoever’s row they sit in. Ownership is about the pit, not the stone.

If you’re on a phone playing the game here, the same layout applies: bottom row is yours, store on the right.

Three, four, or five stones per pit?

Four is the standard, and it’s the version this site’s game and almost every published rule sheet use. But you’ll meet sets and families that deal differently, and the rules don’t change at all; only the texture of the game does.

The three-stone setup: 36 stones in play. Shorter games, quicker captures, popular with kids and in some older rule sheets.

Three stones per pit makes a faster, lighter game with 36 stones: fewer long sows, quicker endings, and less brutal captures. It’s a good on-ramp for young kids.

The five-stone setup: 60 stones. Longer sows that wrap around the board, and bigger swings.

Five stones per pit gives you 60 stones and a longer, swingier game where opening sows reach deep into your opponent’s territory. Some players find it richer; beginners mostly find it confusing. Start with four.

Who goes first

There’s no official rule, so use whatever your table likes: coin flip, youngest player, loser of the previous game. Be aware that moving first in mancala is a genuine advantage (with perfect play the first player wins outright), so in any series you should alternate. The conventions and the fairness math get a full treatment at who goes first in mancala.

Once you’re set up, the how to play walkthrough takes you through a first game move by move, including the one opening worth memorizing before you start.