From: Elvis The board: __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [____] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____] ____ \ / | | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ | | \ / [____] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ Normally this is lying flat on a table, not vertical on a computer screen. So imagine it flat. And wooden. And 3-D. Those little cutouts that I drew are actually carved out of the wood, like little pockets to hold the stones. There are two players. Each sits on opposite sides of the board. The sides are the long sides drawn here. Your side consists of six holes and your home. __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [____] [____] [____] [____] [____] [____] ____ \ / | | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ |home| \ / [_1__] [_2__] [_3__] [_4__] [_5__] [_6__] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ I (your opponent) have the same setup as you on the other side. The object is to get the most stones into your home. Here's where the game varies. For sake of illustrating, (and because that's how I usually play) we'll start with four stones. I'll use numbers instead of stones. __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] ____ \ / | | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ | | \ / [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ Play moves counterclockwise. The object is to get the most stones in your home. Pick up all the stones in one of the holes on your side and place one in each of the holes including your home (but excluding mine) in a counterclockwise fashion. Example: __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] ____ \ / | | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ | | \ / [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ Let's say that ^ you choose /|\ this one | ______________________| The board after you move will look like this: __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] [_4__] ____ \ / | | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ | 1 | \ / [_4__] [_4__] [_0__] [_5__] [_5__] [_5__] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ Get the hang of it? There are a couple of rules. 1. Game is over once all holes on your side are empty. 2. You can only pick up stones from your side. 3. If the last stone you place lands in your home, you go again. So in the above example, it would still be your turn. 4. If your last stone lands in an empty space on your side, you get to put that stone in your home. You also get everything directly opposite that spot. Then your turn is over. Example: Pretend after playing a while our board looks like this: __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [_0__] [_2__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] [_3__] ____ \ / | 20 | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ | 19 | \ / [_0__] [_4__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ Let's say that ^ you choose /|\ this one | _____________| The board after you move will look like this: __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [_0__] [_2__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] [_3__] ____ \ / | 20 | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ | 19 | \ / [_0__] [_0__] [_1__] [_1__] [_1__] [_1__] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ You get that last one in the last spot and the three directly opposite of it. So now it looks like this. __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [_0__] [_2__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] ____ \ / | 20 | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ | 23 | \ / [_0__] [_0__] [_1__] [_1__] [_1__] [_0__] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ And it's my turn (yay!). I have one choice. __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [_1__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] ____ \ / | 21 | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ | 23 | \ / [_0__] [_0__] [_1__] [_1__] [_1__] [_0__] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ I go again. __________________________________________________________________ / ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ \ / | | [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] [_0__] ____ \ / | 22 | | | \ / |____| ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ | 23 | \ / [_0__] [_0__] [_1__] [_1__] [_1__] [_0__] |____| \ /_________________________________________________________________\ Uh oh, my side is empty. Game is over. You get to keep the remaining three on your side. 22 to 26. Good game. You win. From: naenia hmm... I know that since mancala is not a widely known game, and it comes from two different parts of the world (Africa and The Middle East both have it, but the middle easters play with 9 spaces to a side instead of six) the rules may vary, but I just thought I'd share how I learned 1. Game is over once all stones are in one of the home spaces. 2. You can only pick up stones from your side. 3. If the last stone you place lands in your home, you go again. So in the above example, it would still be your turn. It would also continue to be your turn if you end in a space on your side of the board. You would pick up the pieces in that space and continue with your turn. 4. If your last stone lands in an empty space on your side, You get to move the pieces directly opposite that space from the opponent's side to yours. Then your turn is over. I believe the way I learned it has more of a middle eastern twist to it (since I learned on a middle eastern board, even though I own an African board), but I could be wrong. The visuals were excellent. naenia