From: Elvis 



The board:
 __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [____]  [____]  [____]  [____]  [____]  [____]   ____  \
/ |    |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   |    | \
/          [____]  [____]  [____]  [____]  [____]  [____]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\


Normally this is lying flat on a table, not vertical on a computer
screen.  So imagine it flat.  And wooden.  And 3-D.  Those little
cutouts that I drew are actually carved out of the wood, like little
pockets to hold the stones.

There are two players.  Each sits on opposite sides of the board.
The sides are the long sides drawn here. Your side consists of six
holes and your home.

 __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [____]  [____]  [____]  [____]  [____]  [____]   ____  \
/ |    |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   |home| \
/          [_1__]  [_2__]  [_3__]  [_4__]  [_5__]  [_6__]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\


I (your opponent) have the same setup as you on the other side.
The object is to get the most stones into your home.

Here's where the game varies.  For sake of illustrating, (and
because that's how I usually play)  we'll start with four stones.
I'll use numbers instead of stones.

 __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]   ____  \
/ |    |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   |    | \
/          [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\


Play moves counterclockwise.  The object is to get the most stones
in your home.  Pick up all the stones in one of the holes on your side
and place one in each of the holes including your home (but excluding
mine) in a counterclockwise fashion.

Example:
 __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]   ____  \
/ |    |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   |    | \
/          [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\

    Let's say that            ^
    you choose               /|\
    this one                  |
        ______________________|


The board after you move will look like this:
 __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]  [_4__]   ____  \
/ |    |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   | 1  | \
/          [_4__]  [_4__]  [_0__]  [_5__]  [_5__]  [_5__]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\


Get the hang of it?
There are a couple of rules.

1.  Game is over once all holes on your side are empty.

2.  You can only pick up stones from your side.

3.  If the last stone you place lands in your home, you go again.
So in the above example, it would still be your turn.

4.  If your last stone lands in an empty space on your side,  you
get to put that stone in your home.  You also get everything directly
opposite that spot.  Then your turn is over.


Example:  Pretend after playing a while our board looks like this:

 __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [_0__]  [_2__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_3__]   ____  \
/ | 20 |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   | 19 | \
/          [_0__]  [_4__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\

    Let's say that   ^
    you choose      /|\
    this one         |
        _____________|


The board after you move will look like this:
 __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [_0__]  [_2__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_3__]   ____  \
/ | 20 |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   | 19 | \
/          [_0__]  [_0__]  [_1__]  [_1__]  [_1__]  [_1__]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\


You get that last one in the last spot and the three directly opposite
of it.  So now it looks like this.
 __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [_0__]  [_2__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]   ____  \
/ | 20 |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   | 23 | \
/          [_0__]  [_0__]  [_1__]  [_1__]  [_1__]  [_0__]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\


And it's my turn (yay!).  I have one choice.

  __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [_1__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]   ____  \
/ | 21 |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   | 23 | \
/          [_0__]  [_0__]  [_1__]  [_1__]  [_1__]  [_0__]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\

I go again.

  __________________________________________________________________
/  ____     ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____          \
/ |    |   [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]  [_0__]   ____  \
/ | 22 |                                                   |    | \
/ |____|    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____    ____   | 23 | \
/          [_0__]  [_0__]  [_1__]  [_1__]  [_1__]  [_0__]  |____| \
/_________________________________________________________________\

Uh oh, my side is empty.  Game is over.  You get to keep the remaining
three on your side.  22 to 26.  Good game.  You win.






From: naenia 


hmm... I know that since mancala is not a widely known game, and it
comes from two different parts of the world (Africa and The Middle East
both have it, but the middle easters play with 9 spaces to a side
instead of six) the rules may vary, but I just thought I'd share how I
learned


1.  Game is over once all stones are in one of the home spaces.

2.  You can only pick up stones from your side.

3.  If the last stone you place lands in your home, you go again.
So in the above example, it would still be your turn. It would also
continue to be your turn if you end in a space on your side of the
board. You would pick up the pieces in that space and continue with your
turn.

4.  If your last stone lands in an empty space on your side, You get to
move the pieces directly opposite that space from the opponent's side to
yours. Then your turn is over.

I believe the way I learned it has more of a middle eastern twist to it
(since I learned on a middle eastern board, even though I own an African
board), but I could be wrong. The visuals were excellent.

naenia

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                                             888         
88888b.d88b.  8888b. 88888b.  .d8888b 8888b. 888 8888b.  
888 "888 "88b    "88b888 "88bd88P"       "88b888    "88b 
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888  888  888888  888888  888Y88b.   888  888888888  888 
888  888  888"Y888888888  888 "Y8888P"Y888888888"Y888888 
                                                         
                                                         
                                                         

                                 _       
                                | |      
 _ __ ___   __ _ _ __   ___ __ _| | __ _ 
| '_ ` _ \ / _` | '_ \ / __/ _` | |/ _` |
| | | | | | (_| | | | | (_| (_| | | (_| |
|_| |_| |_|\__,_|_| |_|\___\__,_|_|\__,_|
                                         
                                         

                                                                               
                                                                88             
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88,dPYba,,adPYba,  ,adPPYYba, 8b,dPPYba,   ,adPPYba, ,adPPYYba, 88 ,adPPYYba,  
88P'   "88"    "8a ""     `Y8 88P'   `"8a a8"     "" ""     `Y8 88 ""     `Y8  
88      88      88 ,adPPPPP88 88       88 8b         ,adPPPPP88 88 ,adPPPPP88  
88      88      88 88,    ,88 88       88 "8a,   ,aa 88,    ,88 88 88,    ,88  
88      88      88 `"8bbdP"Y8 88       88  `"Ybbd8"' `"8bbdP"Y8 88 `"8bbdP"Y8  
                                                                               
                                                                               

		

		
ASCII Character Codes:
		
m = ASCII 109
a = ASCII 97
n = ASCII 110
c = ASCII 99
a = ASCII 97
l = ASCII 108
a = ASCII 97
		
Capitalised:
		
M = ASCII 77
A = ASCII 65
N = ASCII 78
C = ASCII 67
A = ASCII 65
L = ASCII 76
A = ASCII 65