Mancala Strategy: 8 Tips to Win More Games

Good mancala strategy comes down to counting. Every pit tells you exactly where its last seed will land, and the two things you want most, a free turn and a capture, both depend on where that last seed goes.

The tips below fit the standard rules: two rows of six pits with four seeds each, a store at each end, sowing one seed a pit counterclockwise and skipping the other side’s store. Land your last seed in your store and you go again; land it in an empty pit on your side and you capture it with the seeds across. You can try every one of them in Mancala on HulaGames, free in your browser, against a bot with three levels. Hold any pit before you let go and the game draws where its seeds will go, so you can check your count before you commit.

1. Count the steps to your store

A pit gives you a free turn when it holds exactly as many seeds as it has steps to your store. The pit next to your store needs one seed, the pit before it two, and so on, up to six in the pit furthest away. Before every move, look along your row for a pit whose count matches its distance. That free turn is almost always worth taking.

2. Take the free turn nearest the store first

When two pits both land in your store, play the one closer to the store first. Sowing it doesn’t touch the pits further back, so the other free turn is still there for your next move. Play the far pit first and its seeds run through the near pit, add one, and spoil its count.

3. Chain your free turns

A free turn often sets up another. After a sowing lands in your store, count your row again: the seeds you just dropped may have turned a pit into an exact match. Strong players string three or four moves together this way before the other side gets a turn.

4. Set up captures from empty pits

An empty pit on your side is a capture waiting to happen. If one of your pits can land its last seed there, and the pit across has seeds in it, you take the lot. A pit with a lot of seeds can also wrap all the way round the board and come back to an empty pit, so count the long sowings too.

5. Guard against the other side’s captures

Look at the board from the other side before you move. Which of their pits are empty, and what sits across from them? If a big pile of yours faces one of their empty pits, and they can land a last seed there, move it or fill the empty pit by sowing into it.

6. Keep seeds on your side for the end

The game ends when either row is empty, and each side keeps the seeds left in its own row. So the seeds in your row near the end count for you. Late in the game, prefer short sowings that stay on your side, and be careful with a big pile: sowing it carries most of its seeds over to the other row.

7. Count the endgame

With only a few seeds left, you can often count the whole rest of the game. Ask what happens if your row empties first, and what happens if theirs does. Sometimes the best move is the one that ends the game at once while you are ahead, before the other side can sweep its row into its store.

8. Know the opening

In the standard four-seed game, the pit four steps from your store (the third of your six pits) lands its last seed in the store on the very first move. That free turn is why the first player has an edge. A common start is to take it, then play the pit next to your store, which sends seeds into your store and on to the other side. Against a strong player, use your first few moves to collect free turns and keep your own empty pits safe.

Practice against the bot

Mancala on HulaGames has three bot levels. Easy is relaxed, Medium looks a few moves ahead, and Hard searches deep and punishes a loose pit. You and the bot take turns going first. When you want a puzzle, Today’s Daily Sow is an endgame with exactly one first move that wins against a bot that defends perfectly. It’s a good way to practice tip 7. For more classic strategy, read our backgammon tips or our Mexican Train strategy guide.