Mancala is an ancient African game that has two key elements of a good, enduring game: the rules are simple to learn, but it is a hard game to master.
Strictly, Mancala is the name of a family of games involving the distribution, capture and collection of stones or seeds in trays. This application, which provides an electronic board with guidance and feedback for two people to play against each other (you cannot play the system) supports some commonly found variations of Mancala, by enabling you to select options. There is, of course, a set of default options that are in force when you first open the application, so below we first describe this game but also highlight where options are available. These options, and their impacts, are described afterwards.
On the Mancala 'board', each player has 6 small trays plus one larger tray - the Mancala (or kalaha) - at one end. Although the traditional board does not have different coloured trays and Mancalas, this computerized version has six small trays plus a Mancala for each of two colours: red (reddish-brown) and green. The two players - Red and Green - own the trays and Mancala of their own colour.
At the beginning of the game, each of the small trays has 4 stones.
The basic idea of the game is that players take turns to select one of their own small trays, take the stones in this tray, and distribute the stones into other trays, by dropping them one at a time into these trays, moving in an anticlockwise direction.
The objective is to end up with the highest total number of stones in their Mancala plus their own trays (but see Options 3 concerned with this) when the game ends - which occurs when one player (see Options 2 concerning this) has no stones left in any of their 6 small trays.
Rules (default game)
The players agree who should start - Red or Green. That player then makes a move, as follows:
A move
The player making a move selects one of the six small trays of his or her own colour containing at least one stone.
The stones are removed from the tray and distributed one by one into adjacent trays, moving anticlockwise. One stone is put into each tray, including the player's own Mancala (large tray) - but if the opponent's Mancala is reached, it is ignored: no stone is put in and distribution of the stones continues in the player's own small trays.
What happens next depends on where the last stone is dropped:
- if the last stone is dropped in the player's own Mancala, the player has another move;
- if the last stone is dropped in an empty small tray of the player's own colour, the stone plus any stones in the opponent's small tray directly opposite this are collected and put into the player's Mancala (but see Options 1 concerning this); the opponent then has a move;
- if the last stone is dropped anywhere else, the opponent then has a move.
End of the game
The game ends when all the small trays belonging to any one of the players are empty (but see Options 2). The winner is the player with the highest total of stones in their Mancala plus any still in their 6 small trays (but see Options 3).
If a point is reached before this, where one player already has more than 24 stones in their Mancala, the game ends early with that player declared as the winner, since the opponent cannot catch up.
Playing the computerized game
In this application, the stones in a small tray or Mancala are represented graphically by blue circular discs. Note: sometimes, when there are many stones in a tray or Mancala, you will see yellow discs, each of which represents 2 stones. You may also see black discs, each of which represents 3 stones. In addition to the graphical display, the number of stones is also displayed next to (above or below) the tray or Mancala.
Moves are made by pressing either on one of the small trays or on its associated number.
The system will not allow illegal moves. The text below the board tells you what is happening, whose move it is, and, when the game is over, which player has won.
New game
Just press on the New button at any time to start a new game. You will be reminded which options are in force.
Options
There are three sets of rule options. To choose or change these, press the More button, select the desired choices, then press the Back button to return. Please note that selected options come into force only when a new game is started.
Options 1 - what happens when the last stone to be distributed lands in an empty small tray on the mover's own side.
These options are found under 1 Transfer last drop in empty: on the More page.
The default behaviour is that the stone together with any stones in the small tray opposite it are moved to the player's Mancala - regardless of whether the tray opposite contains any stones. This option is represented by 'Always'.
The alternative behaviour is that the last stone dropped in the player's own empty small tray is transferred to the Mancala only if the tray opposite contains stones, which are transferred to the Mancala together with the last stone dropped. If the tray opposite is empty, the last stone dropped is not transferred to the Mancala. This option is represented by 'Stones opposite'.
Options 2 - when the game ends.
These options are found under 2 End of game: on the More page.
The default behaviour is that at the end of a move, if either player has all six small trays empty the game ends. This option is represented by 'Any empty'.
The alternative behaviour is that the game ends due to empty trays only if the player about to make a move is unable to because their trays are all empty. If the opponent has all trays empty this does not, by itself, trigger the end of the game. This option is represented by 'New mover empty'.
Options 3 - what happens to any stones remaining in small trays when the game ends.
These options are found under 3 Remaining stones taken by: on the More page.
The default behaviour is that when the game ends because one player has only empty small trays, any remaining stones left in the opponent's small trays are added to the number of stones in the opponent's Mancala to give the opponent's grand total. Another way of expressing this is that when the game ends, each player's total is the sum of the stones in their own Mancala plus the number of stones remaining in their own small trays. This option is represented by 'Owner'.
One variant behaviour is that when the game ends because one player has only empty small trays, any remaining stones left in the opponent's small trays are added to the number of stones in the empty player's Mancala to give the empty player's grand total. Another way of expressing this is that when the game ends, each player's total is the sum of the stones in their own Mancala plus the number of stones remaining in their opponent's small trays. This option is represented by 'Opponent'.
Another variant behaviour is that when the game ends because one player has only empty small trays, any remaining stones left in the opponent's small trays are ignored. The total for each player is considered to be only the stones in their own Mancalas. This option is represented by 'Neither'.
These options clearly have an impact on playing strategy and tactics - and the options concerning who takes the remaining stones make a huge impact on strategy. We hope you enjoy exploring these options.
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Version: 3.0 (20170327) Scale:
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