Mancala: oldest board game official icon

Mancala: oldest board game

By Vadym Khokhlov · iPhone & iPad

No rating yet17+FreeAvailable now

The mancala games are a family of two-player turn-based strategy board games played with small stones, beans, or seeds and rows of holes or pits in the earth, a board or other playing surface. The objective is usually to capture all or some set of the opponent's pieces. (Wikipedia). There are a lot of games in the mancala family: oware, bao, omweso

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About Mancala: oldest board game

Developer description, as provided in the original store listing.

The mancala games are a family of two-player turn-based strategy board games played with small stones, beans, or seeds and rows of holes or pits in the earth, a board or other playing surface. The objective is usually to capture all or some set of the opponent's pieces. (Wikipedia).

There are a lot of games in the mancala family: oware, bao, omweso and so on.

It's an implementation of several mancala games - kalah, oware, congkak.

The game provides a board and a number of seeds or counters. The board has 6 small pits, called houses, on each side; and a big pit, called an end zone or store, at each end. The object of the game is to capture more seeds than one's opponent.

Kalah rules:

1. At the beginning of the game, four (five to six) seeds are placed in each house.
2. Each player controls the six houses and their seeds on the player's side of the board. The player's score is the number of seeds in the store to their right.
3. Players take turns sowing their seeds. On a turn, the player removes all seeds from one of the houses under their control. Moving counter-clockwise, the player drops one seed in each house in turn, including the player's own store but not their opponent's.
4. If the last sown seed lands in an empty house owned by the player, and the opposite house contains seeds, both the last seed and the opposite seeds are captured and placed into the player's store.
5. If the last sown seed lands in the player's store, the player gets an additional move. There is no limit on the number of moves a player can make in their turn.
6. When one player no longer has any seeds in any of their houses, the game ends. The other player moves all remaining seeds to their store, and the player with the most seeds in their store wins.

Oware rules:

1. At the beginning of the game, four (five or six) seeds are placed in each house. Each player controls the six houses and their seeds on the player's side of the board. The player's score is the number of seeds in the store to their right.

Good to know.

Developer
Vadym Khokhlov
Release date
Aug 5, 2025
Latest version
3.2.0
Requires
iOS 15.6 or later
Price snapshot
Free USD
Source checked
Oct 23, 2026

Apple App Store lookup ↗ · Store ratings, prices, and availability can change. Check the App Store for your region.

A few quick answers.

Is Mancala: oldest board game available on iPhone?

Mancala: oldest board game is listed on the US App Store. Availability varies by region and compatible device.

Is Mancala: oldest board game free?

The recorded download price is free. In-app purchases, subscriptions, or additional content may cost extra. Source checked Oct 23, 2026.

How is the game’s social activity measured?

Good Game Daily compares available samples of recent game mentions with the preceding 24-hour window. Coverage and source failures are disclosed. Read the methodology.

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