Mancala games

Mancala games, a timeless family of two-player strategy board games, offer an engaging experience with simple rules and deep tactical play. Rooted in tradition, these games involve moving stones, seeds, or counters across a board with pits or houses. The ultimate goal is often to secure the majority of the opponent's pieces in your store.

Among the many variations of mancala games, Kalah, Oware, and Congkak stand out. These games share a common structure—a board with six small houses per side and a larger store at each end. Players aim to gather more seeds in their respective stores than their opponent.

Kalah Rules:

• Each house starts with four (or five to six) seeds. The player's score is the total seeds in their store.
• Players take turns sowing seeds from one house, placing one seed in each subsequent house clockwise.
• If the last seed lands in an empty house owned by the player, and the opposite house contains seeds, both are captured and added to the player's store.
• Landing the last seed in the player's store grants an additional turn.
• The game ends when one player has no seeds left in their houses. The other player collects the remaining seeds, and the player with the higher score wins.

Oware Rules:

• Each house begins with four (or five to six) seeds. The player's score is the total seeds in their store.
• On their turn, a player removes all seeds from one house and distributes them counter-clockwise, skipping their own store and the house they drew from.
• Capturing occurs when the final seed lands in an opponent's house, bringing its count to exactly two or three. These seeds are captured and added to the player's store.
• Continuous capturing can occur if multiple houses meet the criteria.
• If an opponent's houses are empty, the current player must make a move that provides seeds to the opponent. If no such move exists, the player captures all remaining seeds in their territory, ending the game.
• The game concludes when one player captures more than half the seeds, or if both players collect equal amounts, resulting in a draw.

What's New in Version 1.4.1

Last updated on August 6, 2024—This version includes bug fixes to enhance gameplay stability and user experience.