Gameplay in Brief:
Players first place an equal number of seeds (the number varies by the specific game being played) in each of the pits on the game board. On a turn, a player removes all of the seeds in one pit and then deposits them, one at a time, in the following pits, including one pit at each end of the board where the seeds are "captured" by the player who controls that particular pit.
At the end of the game, the player who has captured the most seeds is the winner.
Basics:
For two players, ages 8 and up. About 15 minutes per game.
Designer:
Mancala is a public domain game with roots that can be traced back to between 500 and 700 AD.
Publisher:
Because Mancala is a public domain game, it can be published by any company. Good wooden sets are often available for less than $15. Top-notch Mancala sets can sell for more than $50.
Genre:
Mancala is an abstract board game.
History:
Evidence of Mancala games have been found by archaeologists in Aksumite Ethiopia in Matara (now in Eritrea) and Yeha (in Ethiopia), dating back to between 500 and 700 AD.
Rules:
The rules of basic two-rank Mancala, also known as Kalah, are available at this site.
Mancala Games:
Wikipedia lists more than 80 Mancala games. The games listed as "most popular" include Bao, Kalah, Oware, Omweso, and Pallanguzhi.
