If, however, your final stone is dropped in a pocket with more stones, you get to scoop up that new collection of stones and keep going. If they drop the final stone in an empty pocket on either side of the board, you’re done. As players drop stones along the path, they skip their opponent’s store (or mancala). For the sake of making sure everyone enjoys the game, we’ll give you the most basic rules. From there, things can be as simple or as tricky as you want to play. They must then go around the board counter clockwise, dropping one stone in each pocket or store on their path.
![cool mancala boards cool mancala boards](https://games-az.com/wp-content/uploads/thumbs/custom/M/Mancala.jpg)
Decide who starts and allow that person to scoop the four stones from any pocket. If each player is sitting at the ends of the boards, the “pockets” to the right of their “store” belong to them. To start, you leave the your store empty and disperse your 48 stones evenly among the 12 pockets. The board is long and narrow with large divots at each end, called “stores” and six smaller divots, called “pockets” along each side. You’ll need a Mancala board and 48 stones.
#COOL MANCALA BOARDS HOW TO#
What you need and how to set up your game of Mancala Wanna know the secret? It’s all in where you start! Read on to find out more.
#COOL MANCALA BOARDS CRACKER#
Much like Rubiks cubes and Cracker Barrel’s peg games, however, there is a way to win. For now, it’s most important to know that Mancala is a ton of fun and, on the surface, seems like a game of chance. We’ll get into a the nitty-gritty details of the game below. Whomever has the most stones is the winner.
![cool mancala boards cool mancala boards](https://www.tegames.com/wp-content/uploads/thumbs/gamedistribution/M/mancala-3d.jpeg)
Here’s the gist: You start out with 48 little stones in 12 divots and work your way around the Mancala board until all the divets are empty and each player has a collection of stones. It is currently one of the most popular games in Africa. The board game’s origins are rooted in ancient Egypt and Mancala boards were carved into the roofs of temples in Memphis, Thebes, and Luxor. Mancala is actually one of the world’s oldest board games, with evidence showing it was played in Asia and Africa as long ago as 3,600 B.C.E.
![cool mancala boards cool mancala boards](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6c/a8/fd/6ca8fd841b542ef601b15ac1b7ca1ea6.jpg)
Have you ever played or watched someone else play Mancala? Mancala comes from the Arabic root word “Naqala” which means, “to move.” “To move” is, in essence, the overall objective of the game.