The board and the winning goal
Free Play Bay Mancala uses six pits for each player and one large store at each end. Player 1 controls one row of six pits and banks stones in the P1 Store; Player 2 or the AI controls the opposite row and banks stones in the P2 Store. The winner is the player with more stones in the store after the board is finished.
You can play one player against the AI or choose two-player pass-and-play on the same device. The optional sideways or upright view changes how the board is presented, not the rules.
How sowing works
Choose a nonempty pit on your side. Every stone from that pit is lifted and dropped one at a time into the following cups in counter-clockwise order. Your own store receives a stone when the path reaches it, but the opponent’s store is skipped.
The last stone matters more than the first. Count the full route before tapping so you know whether the move ends in an ordinary pit, your store, or an empty pit on your side.
Landing in your store gives another turn
When the final stone lands in your own store, the game immediately gives you another move unless that sowing action also ends the game. Extra turns are the main way to build combinations and control tempo.
Before taking an obvious extra turn, check what the follow-up position will be. A sequence of store landings is strongest when the final move also protects your side or creates a capture threat. Do not use an extra turn merely to empty a useful pit without a plan.
How captures work in this version
A capture occurs when your final stone lands in an empty pit on your own side and the directly opposite pit contains stones. The game moves the final stone and all stones from the opposite pit into your store. No capture occurs when the opposite pit is empty.
Count possible landing pits on both sides of the board. A one-stone pit can become a capture tool, but moving it too early may remove the threat. The opponent can also see the setup and may empty or alter the opposite pit first.
The game ends when one side is empty
After a move, if every pit on either player’s side is empty, the game ends. All stones remaining on the other side are automatically banked in that player’s store. This final collection can decide the result even when one store appears to be ahead before the last move.
Endgame planning therefore requires counting stones outside both stores. Emptying your own side is not automatically good if it hands a large group of remaining stones to the opponent.
Count routes instead of guessing
For short moves, count the exact number of cups to your store. For longer moves, continue around the board while remembering that the opponent’s store is skipped. The in-game Hint button can help confirm a legal or promising move, but learning the count makes extra turns and captures easier to predict.
A useful habit is to evaluate the landing cup first, then examine what the move leaves behind. The strongest move often creates a second useful move rather than collecting the most stones immediately.
Protect valuable pits from captures
A large pit opposite an empty enemy pit can become a capture target. Before adding more stones to that pit, count whether the opponent can land their final stone in the empty cup. Sometimes the correct move is to empty or redistribute the threatened pit even when it gives up a small scoring opportunity.
Defense also means avoiding unnecessary single-stone pits on your side. A lone stone may be useful for a store landing, but it may also become easy to capture after the board changes.
Plan extra-turn chains
Start by finding pits that land exactly in your store. Then inspect the new stone counts created by that move. The best chains use the extra turn to create another store landing, secure a capture, or prevent the opponent from taking one.
Do not plan only one move ahead when several of your pits are close to the store. Their order matters. Using the wrong pit first can change the count and destroy the entire chain.
Playing against the AI
The AI receives the same legal moves, extra-turn rule, capture rule, and endgame collection as the human player. Slow down before giving it a large opposite pit to capture. A move that gains one stone now may expose several stones on the next turn.
Use the message area and highlighted changes to review what happened after each animated sow. Understanding why the AI received another turn or captured stones is more valuable than immediately restarting the game.
Opening priorities
Early turns should create future store landings without leaving a large capture target. Pits farther from your store often distribute stones across more of the board, while pits closer to the store are easier to count into extra turns. Compare both ideas before moving: a fast extra turn is useful, but a move that improves several pits can create a stronger sequence two turns later.
Avoid emptying the same side of your board too quickly unless the final collection favors you. Keeping stones in several pits preserves options and makes it harder for the opponent to predict exactly which landing cup you need.
Endgame counting example
Suppose your store leads by three stones, but the opponent still has eight stones spread across their pits while your side is nearly empty. If your next move empties your side, those eight stones are banked for the opponent and the apparent lead disappears. The store totals alone do not show the true position until remaining stones are included.
Near the end, count every stone outside the stores and ask who receives it if either side empties. Sometimes the best move keeps one pit alive for another turn so you can capture, earn an extra move, or prevent the opponent from collecting a large remainder.
A practical beginner routine
At the start of each turn, check for an exact store landing. Next, check whether any move creates a capture. Then inspect the opponent’s capture threats and the endgame risk of emptying either side. Only after those checks should you choose a move based on general stone distribution.
This routine keeps the game readable: extra turns control tempo, captures create swings, and the final collection decides whether an apparently safe lead is real.
Play Mancala
Open the current Free Play Bay build to practice the exact mechanics and examples described above.
Open Mancala