Games guide

Mancala

English

Sow the seeds — the most seeds in the store wins

The video

The video is narrated and captioned in Hebrew; the transcript below is in English.

Mancala

Mancala (Kalah) inside the room: you sow seeds into pits and collect them in the store. At the end, whoever has more seeds in the store wins.

How to start

  1. In a game room: tap "New table", choose Mancala and invite a player from the room. In a regular room, whoever manages the game starts it.
  2. The invited player taps "I'll play" — they have 60 seconds. The server draws who starts.

How to play

  1. Each player has 6 pits with 4 seeds in each, and a store of their own.
  2. On your turn, choose one of your pits that is not empty, and the seeds are sown one by one counterclockwise. You skip the opponent's store.
  3. A last seed in your store — another turn.
  4. A last seed in an empty pit of yours, when the pit opposite it has seeds — that seed and the seeds in the pit opposite go to your store.
  5. Each turn has one minute.

How the game ends

One side has run out of seeds in its pitsEach side collects what is left on its side; the most seeds in the store wins, a tie is a draw
Time runs out on the turn (one minute)Whoever did not play loses, and the opponent wins
"Leave the game" in the middleForfeit — the opponent wins

What you choose at the start

In the room

How a game fits in a room

This is how it looks in the app

Video transcript

Video transcript
  1. How to play mancala in OrenChat.
  2. Open a new table, choose Mancala and invite a player.
  3. Choose one of your pits, and the seeds are sown one by one counterclockwise.
  4. A last seed in your store? Another turn.
  5. A last seed in an empty pit of yours, with seeds in the pit opposite? You capture both.
  6. When one side is empty, the most seeds in the store wins.
  7. The others watch and advise — and at the end, another round.
  8. OrenChat — free for Android. Download it now from the website.

The server is the referee: it checks every move, draws the random results and decides — you cannot cheat from the phone.

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