Kalah
The standard Western form of Mancala, designed in the United States by William Julius Champion Jr. in the 1940s and marketed as a commercial game. Widely available and the most commonly taught variant outside Africa and Asia.
Kalah — starting position
https://engine.moddable.games/play/?game=mancala&variant=kalah
| Item | Qty | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Board | 1 | 2 rows of 6 pits + 1 store at each end |
| Seeds | 72 | Stones, beads, or counters |
Setup
Each of the 12 pits begins with 6 seeds. The two stores (also called Kalahs) begin empty. Each player owns the store to their right and the 6 pits on their side of the board.
Rules
Sowing: On your turn, pick up all seeds from any one of your six pits. Sow them one at a time into consecutive pits, moving counter-clockwise (to the right along your row, then through your store, then along the opponent’s row).
Your store: When you reach your own store, deposit one seed into it. Skip the opponent’s store during sowing.
Bonus turn: If the last seed you sow lands in your own store, you take another turn immediately.
Capture: If the last seed lands in an empty pit on your side, and the opposite pit (on the opponent’s side) contains seeds, capture all seeds from the opposite pit and your sowing seed, placing them in your store.
Empty pits: You must choose a pit that contains at least one seed.
End of Game
When one player’s six pits are all empty at the start of their turn, the game ends. The opposing player sweeps all remaining seeds on their side into their own store.
Winning
The player with more seeds in their store wins. With 72 seeds total, 37 wins.
Attribution
Kalah. Designed by William Julius Champion Jr., USA, 1940s. Public domain rules. Source: Wikipedia (CC-BY-SA).