In Arabic, mancala means “to move”. Thus, this board game simply means that each player take turns in moving their pieces. The essence of the game is to capture the enemy’s pieces. The winner is the person who has captured the most pieces at the end of the game. To be able to learn how to play mancala, follow the simple instructions below:
Step 1
First set up the game board. Players should sit directly opposite to each other with the board in between them. There will be 6 small cups for each player; put 4 smaller stones in every small cup on the board. There is a large cup at the right of each player, which is the one called mancala.
Step 2
Each player takes turn to move the stones found in every cup. The direction of the flow of the stones should be counterclockwise or going to the right side of each player. One stone should be dropped individually in the cups until nothing is left in the hand of the player.
Step 3
As the game starts, move the stones and accumulate more in your mancala. However, there are times when you are obliged to distribute more stones in the game board. In times like these, be sure not to put a stone in your opponent’s mancala; just skip it if you come across with it. Remember this, if you can drop a stone in one of your empty cups in your side of the board, you can take it out and put it in your mancala. So develop your own strategy while playing the game.
Step 4
When a player is out of stones to drop, that would be the end of the game. And the player who has more stones in its mancala will be declared winner. That’s why strategies are important to accumulate more stones in your mancala.
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