How To Play Mancala, Here Is The Total Guide For You

Mancala is a traditional board game that you may make at home and play with your family to improve your counting and strategic thinking abilities. Although the game may have been invented in antiquity, it is still widely played throughout Africa and the Middle East today in many of its various versions. With a few straightforward supplies that you probably already have on hand, you can recreate the game at home.

How To Play Mancala

Mancala’s History

In the game of Mancala, participants “sow” and “capture” seeds. Man-cala is thought to have originated as a record-keeping method, a harvesting ceremony, or a divination tool before the dawn of civilization, according to historians. There is proof that the game was played thousands of years ago in Egypt, ancient Sudan on the upper Nile River, and ancient Sumeria (modern-day Iraq). Boards from prehistoric mancala games have been discovered in Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Ghana. Man-cala arrived in the United States thanks to the slaves who brought it over from Africa.

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Rules For Playing Mancala

Mancala is played in numerous variations all around the world. It’s a certain kind of game, but it’s not one that has a brand or a trademark. You can find a two-rank man-cala variant of the game in the section below. To capture more stones than your opponent is the goal.

You’ll need a limited number of things to play the game. You will require a mancala board, which has two rows of six pits. You can use an empty egg carton in its place if you don’t have a man-cala board, which is available in stores. Each participant will require their own mancala store, a tiny cereal dish. Additionally, you’ll need 48 stones, chips, or marbles of any colour. Even pennies or other coins work as a suitable replacement.

The long side of the board or egg carton is faced by the players, who are seated across from one another. Set up by distributing 24 stones to each participant. The nearest holes (also known as pits or pockets) are filled with four stones by each player. To the right of the board, which is shaped like an egg carton, are two empty bowls called mancala shops.

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How to play Mancala

Decide who goes first by flipping a coin or using another system. The game can be played in three steps. Every game lasts between five and ten minutes.

Each of the pits should have four stones in it.

The first player picks up all the stones from one hole on their side and places them one by one, counterclockwise, into each pit on the board. A stone would also be placed in one of the mancala stores or bowls if the player crossed it. It is the opposing player’s turn to do the same thing after the player has no more stones in hand.

A player places a stone in their own shop if they have enough to do so. The player is given a free turn to go again if it’s their final stone. You do not put a stone in another player’s pit if you pass over their store during your turn.

When one player has removed all of the stones from the six holes on their side, the game is over. After that, the opposing player collects all of the stones on their side and puts them in their shop. (or bowl).

The player with the most stones in their mancala store is declared the game’s winner.

FAQs

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