Continent: Africa

Country: All

Age Group: Elementary

Background

Many historians believe that Mancala is the oldest game in the world. The word Mancala refers to the bin that holds the tokens; Mancala means “to transfer” in Arabic. That is exactly what gamers do: transfer or move the playing pieces from one bin to another.

Materials

• Cardboard or Styrofoam egg carton for a dozen eggs
• Containers, such as:
• Two clean, empty tuna or chicken cans opened to make a safe rim
• Two small plastic drinking cups
• The cover of the egg carton
• Craft paints and brushes
• 48 game tokens such as beads, rocks, marbles, or beans
• Colored electrical tape
• Ribbon, felt, and beads for decoration
• Game instructions

Directions

1. Paint the egg carton and let dry. Decorate the egg carton with ribbon, felt, and beads.
2. If using cans, paint the cans. Let dry. Line the cans with felt and wrap colored electrical tape or ribbon around edge of the cans.
3. Play the game!

Play the game online at:

http://www.rocketsnail.com/mancala/

Mancala Game Instructions

Object

Two players compete against each other to collect as many tokens as they can before one of the players clears his side of the egg carton of all its marbles.  

Setting Up the Game

• Place an egg carton between two players lengthwise with a Mancala (tuna can) on either side of the egg carton. The Mancala to the player’s right is that player’s side of the game board.
• Each player places four of his tokens in each of the egg cups (48/12=4).
• Choose a player to go first.

Rules

1. The first player picks up the four tokens from one of his cups. The player starts with the first cup to the right and drops one token in each cup.
2.  If a player reaches the end of his side, the player drops one token in his Mancala, then continues around to the other side of the board. The player may not drop a bead in his opponent’s Mancala.
3. If the player places his last token in his Mancala, the player gets another play. Example: a good beginning play may be to choose the cup that is located fourth from the right, as the fourth token would end in a Mancala, giving the player an extra turn.
4. If the player drops his last token on his side of the board in an empty cup, he captures all the beads in his opponent’s bin directly across from that bin. All captured tokens, plus the capturing token, gets put in the player’s Mancala.
5. Players are not allowed to touch tokens in order to count them. If a player touches a token, he must play that cup.
6. The game ends when one player runs out of tokens on his side of the egg carton.
7. When the game ends, the other player gets to take all his tokens from his side of the egg carton and place in his own Mancala. Strategy sets in by determining whether it is wiser to go out or play longer, depending on how many tokens are in the opposing player’s cups.