Kalah
Sow the seeds, fill your store. Single board, most seeds.
Kalah is a two-player mancala game in which you pick up the seeds from one of your pits and sow them one by one around the board. Finish in your store to go again, and when the game ends, the most seeds in your store wins.
Every move is a small counting puzzle: eight seeds from here lands… in my store! Chain extra turns together, and watch for the capture both players see one move too late, when the last seed drops into an empty pit and the whole pit opposite slides into the mover's store.
Also known as Mancala, Kalaha.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- Single board, most seeds
- Length
- About 2 to 4 minutes
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Kalah: quick rules
About 2 to 4 minutes for a single board with 4 seeds per pit; 1½ to 3 minutes with 3 seeds, 3 to 6 minutes with 6. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1Tap one of your pits to sow its seeds, one per pit, round the board.
- 2Last seed in your store? Go again.
- 3Last seed in an empty pit of yours? Capture the pit opposite.
- 4When a row is empty, the game ends. Most seeds in your store wins.
- 5A tie is replayed.
Play Kalah here
Two of you on this screen, or you against the bot. The full game is in the app.
Kalah rules
Setup
- The board has two rows of six pits and a store at each end. Your row is the one nearest you, and your store is on your right.
- Every pit starts with 4 seeds (3 or 6 if you change the option). Both stores start empty.
- Who starts the first board is picked at random, and on a rematch the player who lost starts. A 3-2-1 countdown starts every board.
Sowing
- On your turn, pick one of your own pits that has seeds. All its seeds are lifted and sown one at a time, counter-clockwise, into the following pits and your own store.
- Your rival's store is always skipped.
Go again and captures
- If your last seed lands in your own store, you take another turn.
- If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit directly opposite has seeds, that seed and all the seeds opposite go into your store.
- If your last seed lands in an empty pit of yours with nothing opposite, it just stays there.
Ending and winning
- As soon as either row has no seeds left, the board ends. Each player moves the seeds left on their own row into their own store.
- The player with more seeds in their store wins the board. In a single-board match, the result shows both seed totals.
- The match is a single board or best of 3 (first to 2 boards). After a decided board, the loser starts the next.
Ties
- If both stores hold the same number of seeds, the board is replayed: it doesn't count, and the other player starts the replay.
- A match never ends drawn.
Hints against the bot
- Playing the bot, you can spend 20 coins on your turn for a hint. It rings the best pit for 2 seconds, without sowing it. Each go-again is a new turn.
- There are no hints against a friend, online or in a tournament.
Tips to win at Kalah
- 1Look for a pit whose seed count lands its last seed exactly in your store. Play the one nearest your store first, so the others still line up.
- 2Chain go-agains: after each extra turn, check again for another pit that ends in your store.
- 3Watch the empty pits on both sides. Before you move, check whether your rival can land in an empty pit opposite a full one of yours.
- 4Let seeds pile up in your rightmost pits only if they're safe. A big pit opposite an empty one is a capture waiting to happen.
- 5Near the end, count the seeds left on each row. Emptying your own row early hands every seed on theirs to their store.
Where Kalah comes from
Kalah belongs to the mancala family of sowing games, which dates back many centuries in Africa and the Middle East and is still widely played there. Kalah itself is a modern version, published in the United States by William Julius Champion Jr. in the 1940s, and it is the version most people outside Africa know as mancala.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- Tap one of your pits with seeds. The whole column, pit and count, is the target.
- Tap a rival pit or an empty pit and it just shakes; nothing is lost.
- Stores are read-only, and the board is locked while seeds are being sown.
- Every pit shows its count as a number, and in friend play the numbers on each side face their owner.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Seeds per pit | 3 (Quick)4 (Classic) (default)6 (Long) | How many seeds start in every pit, and so how long a board takes. |
| Boards | Single (default)Best of 3 | One board, or first to 2 boards. |
| Star pits | Classic (default)Star: go again | Extra. One column of pits on each side carries a star; a last seed in your own star pit also gives you another turn. |
| Relay sowing | Classic (default)Keep sowing | Extra. If your last seed lands in a pit that already had seeds, you lift them all and keep sowing until a seed ends in a store or an empty pit. |
| Streak flames | On (default)Off | Extra. Go-agains in a row light a flame on your store with the count. No effect on the rules. |
Play Kalah against the bot
The bot plays Blue and sees only the board. It counts sowings ahead to fill its store and keep seeds away from you, follows its own go-agains, and thinks for a moment before each move.
Easy
Takes whatever looks best right now and plays a random pit half the time.
Normal
Looks a few moves ahead, including your replies, with the occasional random pit.
Hard
Looks deep ahead and almost never slips.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- PlannedOnline play for Kalah is planned, not available yet. Today you play a friend on one phone or the bot.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it is always a single board with 4 seeds per pit and extras at their defaults, and hints are off.
- Hints
- Stuck against the bot? A hint lights up the strongest move for a few coins. Never with a friend, online or in a tournament.
Coming soon
- Online play. Play Kalah against a friend online, with a turn timer and reconnect. Planned, not available yet.
How it feels
- A bead rattle as you lift a pit, then a glass tick for every seed that drops.
- A rising chime with a turn arrow when you go again, and a sweep and clack as a capture slides into your store with a "+N" stamp.
- A long sweep as leftover seeds slide home at the end.
Accessibility
- Counts are always shown as numbers, ownership is by position, and playable pits are ringed, so nothing relies on colour.
- One finger and one tap a move, with tall touch areas on every pit.
- There is no clock on a turn when you play on one phone or against the bot.
Kalah questions
Pick one of your six pits and sow its seeds one by one counter-clockwise into the next pits and your store. Last seed in your store means you go again; last seed in an empty pit of yours captures the pit opposite. When a row runs out, most seeds in your store wins.
Mancala is a family of sowing games, and Kalah is its best-known version, with six pits a side and a store at each end.
Yes. The bot plays on Easy, Normal or Hard, and you can buy a hint with coins on your turn.
If both stores hold the same number of seeds, the board is replayed and doesn't count, so a match never ends drawn.
Yes. Kalah in Duo Clash is built for two players on the same phone. Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
Not yet. Online play for Kalah is planned, not available yet. Today you play a friend on one phone or the bot.
Play Kalah on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
