Mangala - The Turkish Stone Game, Online with Friends or Bots

Play Mangala Online

Mangala is the Turkish mancala game played with 48 stones on a board of 12 pits and two treasures, the long stores at either end. You can play it online here with a friend you invite by link, or against the computer at five levels from Beginner to Expert. Capture the most stones in your treasure to win.

It feels close to the classic mancala many people grew up with, with three twists. The first stone of every move goes back into the pit you took it from. A last stone that makes an even pile on your opponent's side captures that pile. And when one side runs out of stones, the player who ran out takes every stone still on the board.

How to Play Mangala

The six pits nearest you are yours, and so is the treasure on your right. Each pit starts with 4 stones. Stones travel counterclockwise, into your own treasure as you pass it but never into your opponent's.

1. Pick a pit. Take all the stones from one of your pits. Drop the first one back into the same pit, then one into each pit after it. A pit with a single stone moves it on to the next pit.
2. Land in your treasure to play again. If your last stone drops into your own treasure, you take another turn.
3. Make an even pile to capture. If your last stone lands in one of your opponent's pits and leaves it holding an even number (2, 4, 6 and so on), take the whole pile into your treasure.
4. Land in an empty pit on your side to capture across. If your last stone lands in an empty pit of yours and the pit across has stones, take those stones and your last stone into your treasure. If the pit across is empty, your stone stays where it is.

The game ends when all six pits on one side are empty. Whoever ran out of stones takes every stone left on the other side. That rule turns the ending into a race: you sometimes want to empty your own side first. The bigger treasure wins, and 24 each is a draw.

Mangala vs Classic Mancala

Classic mancala, also called Kalah, uses the same board and the same 48 stones. Moves there start in the next pit, so a pit of 4 reaches 4 pits further on. In Mangala the first stone goes home, so a pit of 4 only reaches 3 pits further on, and every count you know from the classic game shifts by one.

Classic only captures from your own side. Mangala adds the even-pile capture on your opponent's side, which makes their pits with odd counts dangerous to land on. The endings differ the most. In the classic game the stones on each side go to that side's owner, so running out early can lose. In Mangala running out first collects the rest, so the player who clears their side wins the leftovers.

Mangala Strategy

• Count with the first stone at home. A pit with exactly one more stone than its distance to your treasure ends in your treasure. Start with the pit nearest your treasure, so the others keep their counts.
• Aim at odd piles. A last stone that turns an odd pile on your opponent's side into an even one captures it. Look for an odd pile you can reach exactly.
• Don't leave odd piles of your own in reach. If your opponent can land on one, it's theirs.
• Plan the race to the end. When few stones are left, emptying your side first takes every stone your opponent still has. Count both sides before your last few moves.

Play Mangala with Friends or the Computer

Create a room, choose Mangala from the rules, and share the link. Press Play Bots to practice, and pick whether you go first. Win a Mangala game with at least 36 of the 48 stones in your treasure to earn the Treasure Trove achievement. The host can switch the leftover rule back to each side keeping its own stones, or turn on Random Start. The other four rule sets, Classic, Avalanche, Oware and Sungka, are on the main mancala game page.