About this game

Mancala is one of the oldest board games there is. This is the version called Kalah. The board has two rows of six pits, with four seeds in each, and a big store at each end. Sun has the row nearest to them and the store on their right. Moon has the other row and the other store.

On your turn you tap one of your pits. All its seeds come out and drop one at a time into the next pits round the board, anticlockwise. They go into your own store on the way, but skip the other player's.

If your last seed lands in your store, you go again. If it lands in an empty pit on your side, you take that seed and every seed in the pit opposite. When one row is empty the game ends, and each player keeps the seeds left on their own side. The most seeds in the store wins.

On a phone held upright the board runs from top to bottom, and Moon's name and counts are turned round so the player at the far end can read them. On a wide screen the board lies the long way, with Sun's row at the bottom.

On your own, you play Sun against the computer. Easy sometimes plays any pit and only looks one move ahead, so children can beat it. Hard looks 8 moves ahead and is hard for adults to beat. Players take turns to go first.

Good for

• Two children sharing one phone or tablet
• Counting on and planning ahead: where will the last seed land?
• Wet play, or a quiet game for two finishers at the end of a lesson