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All activities
Learn to play
First Sows Learn to sow, land the last seed, and capture — one rule at a time. Where does the last seed land? Every move is counting: sow a pit and predict which pit gets the last seed. Predict then reveal, engine-verified. Teach the Cast Teach a rule to a cast member still learning it — teaching makes it stick.
Play a game
Play the board A full game of Oware against a graded computer — Gentle to Sharp. Kalah — the other mancala Mancala is a family. Play Kalah and feel how its rules differ from Oware. Omweso — the four-row mancala A whole different mancala from Uganda: four rows, a relay-sow that keeps going, capture across the column, and reintroduce the seeds you take. Starve the computer to win. Pass & Play Two players, one device — take turns on the real board. Little Seeds (ages 6–8) A gentle, audio-first first taste of mancala for younger players — sowing seeds, counting one per cup, and landing in your store to go again. Big cups, read aloud. Play a Friend Share a room code and play a friend on another device. No chat, no sign-in. Adventure Map A progression trail through every idea — clear each stop, then move on.
Sharpen your game
Tactic Drills One sow captures — count where the last seed lands and pick the winning sow. Guess the Sow Predict the capturing sow before the reveal, then watch it play out. Predict-observe-explain. Vulnerable pit Predict which of YOUR pits the opponent can capture — the defensive skill that decides games. Count before you empty Don’t grab the biggest capture if it hands back a bigger pile — predict the sow that keeps you ahead. Endgame Trainer With your store nearly at 25, find the sow that captures the game. Engine-verified. Mixed Practice The tactics you missed come back on a gentle spaced-repetition schedule. Tactic Rush A calm-minute sprint — how many captures can you spot? Progress Your levels, days active, and how each idea is coming along — saved on this device.
Concept Kits — 16 kits · 400 questions
Kit 1: The Board And The Goal Foundations — the board & sowing · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 2: Sowing Foundations — the board & sowing · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 3: Reading A Pit Foundations — the board & sowing · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 4: The Store And The Win Count endgame · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 5: Capturing capturing · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 6: Multi Capture Chains capturing · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 7: Predicting The Landing Pit Foundations — the board & sowing · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 8: Lapping strategy · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 9: Building To A Target strategy · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 10: The Must Feed Rule strategy · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 11: Threats And Defense strategy · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 12: Opening Plans strategy · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 13: Midgame Planning strategy · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 14: Endgame Counting endgame · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 15: Find The Capturing Sow capturing · 5-7 · 25 questions Kit 16: Full Game Strategy endgame · 5-7 · 25 questions
Built from these ludemes
A ludeme is a building block of a game's rules. This one combines:
More ways to play
Where this game comes from
Mancala
Mancala is a huge family of sowing games, played across Africa, the Middle East and Asia under hundreds of names: oware, bao, congkak, Vietnam’s ô ăn quan.
One thing to hold: Some boards are simply rows of cups cut into rock, or scooped into the ground.
Why it matters: You can watch arithmetic happen: every seed you sow lands one pit along.
What we don’t know: No one knows where it started. Every family plays it a little differently, and that is part of the game.
Meet the cast — the characters who teach this
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Sower Sefu Sowing: pick up a pit and drop exactly one seed in each pit counterclockwise -
Count Kesi Counting / subitizing: read how many seeds a pit holds at a glance -
Capture Koro Capturing: when the last seed makes an enemy pit two or three, sweep it -
Reap Rafiki Multi-capture chain: read a run of 2s and 3s backward and reap them all -
Subitize Sisi Look-ahead arithmetic: compute the landing pit without sowing it out -
Lapwing Lulu Lapping: sow a full loop around the board (skipping the start pit) -
Store-Keeper Kito The store (kroo) + win count: bank seeds safely; the store count is the win -
Starve-Guard Nne The must-feed rule: when the opponent has no seeds, you must give them some -
Pitkeeper Pemba Building a threat: load a pit to reach a target pit exactly -
Doublesow Dembe Staging / relay: stage seeds across turns to set up a big sweep -
Seedling Sanaa Opening patterns: the first-move sowing plan -
Endgame Enzi Endgame count-out: force the last seeds; parity and counting to the win -
Nana Sowing Elder The sowing elder: poses which-sow-captures puzzles; credits the tradition warmly
Ensemble stories — the cast together
What next? Pick a door
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- Something different SignalForge Which thumbnail wins, and why? RiverForge Where will the rainwater go? SproutForge Who are you writing this for?