Mancala games

Board Game for Two Players

Mancala games form a family of two-player, turn-based strategy board games traditionally played with small stones, beans, or seeds. These games involve rows of holes or pits carved into the earth, a board, or another playing surface. The main goal is often to capture all or a specific set of the opponent's pieces. Examples include Oware, Bao, and Omweso.

This particular game implements several Mancala variants—Kalaha, Oware, and Congkak. The board consists of six small pits, referred to as "houses," on each side, along with a large pit called the "end zone" or "store" at either end. The aim is to collect more seeds than your opponent.

Kalaha Rules:

1. At the start of the game, four (or five to six) seeds are placed in each house.
2. Each player manages the six houses and their seeds on their respective sides. The player's score is the number of seeds in their store.
3. During their turn, a player picks up all the seeds from one house under their control and distributes them, one by one, in a counter-clockwise direction into subsequent houses, including their own store but excluding their opponent's.
4. If the last seed lands in an empty house owned by the player, and the opposite house holds seeds, both the last seed and the opposite seeds are captured and added to the player's store.
5. Landing the last seed in the player's store grants an extra turn. There is no limit to the number of consecutive moves a player can make during their turn.
6. Once a player has no seeds left in any of their houses, the game concludes. The remaining seeds on the opponent's side are transferred to their store, and the player with the higher score in their store wins.

Oware Rules:

1. Initially, four (or five to six) seeds are placed in each house. Each player controls the six houses and their seeds on their side of the board. The player's score is the number of seeds in their store.
2. On their turn, a player removes all the seeds from one of their houses and distributes them, one by one, counter-clockwise into subsequent houses, skipping their own store and the house they drew from. The starting house remains empty; if it initially held 12 (or more) seeds, it is bypassed, and the twelfth seed is placed in the following house.
3. Captures occur only when the final seed sown completes an opponent's house to exactly two or three seeds. These seeds are captured and placed in the player's scoring house, potentially leading to further captures depending on preceding houses.
4. If all of the opponent's houses are empty, the current player must perform a move that provides the opponent with seeds. If no such move exists, the current player collects all their remaining seeds, concluding the game.
5. The game ends when one player captures more than half the total seeds, or when both players reach half the seeds, resulting in a draw.

What's New in Version 1.4.1

Last updated August 6, 2024 – Bug fixes.