YA-Mancala (Yet-Another Mancala) is, as the name suggests, an implementation of the classic board game Mancala. This Readme file describes the game in general as well as the specific features of this program. YA-Mancala is Shareware: if you enjoy the program, and wish to keep it, you are legally and morally obligated to register it for the oh-so-low price of $10, but you knew that right? See the Distribution and Registration section below for details.
About Mancala:
Mancala is one of the oldest known board games. Its origins are obscure, but it is thought to have originated in ancient Egypt. It is also known to have been played in other cultures throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. The rules of the game are simple, but like all good games, the subtleties can be difficult to master.
The game is traditionally played with a set of stones and a carved board, or a set of cups. The board consists of twelve small cups, six on each side, and two larger cups at the ends. Players sit on either side of the board. The six small cups on their side of the board are theirs. The larger cup to their right is their scoring cup. The game begins with four stones in each of the small cups and none in the scoring cups.*
A move in Mancala works as follows. The player whose turn it is picks up all of the stones from one of the cups on his or her side of the board and places one each in every subsequent cup moving counter-clockwise around the board, skipping the opposing player's scoring cup if it is reached.
There are two special conditions. If the last stone a player deposits goes into his or her scoring cup, that player gets to move again. Alternately, if the last stone is deposited in an empty cup on that player's side of the board, any pieces in the cup directly across from it are captured. Captured pieces are moved directly to the capturing player's scoring cup.
The object is to get as many stones as possible into one's scoring cup. The game ends when one player can no longer move. Any remaing stones on the other player's side of the board are moved to his or her scoring cup. Whichever player has the most stones in his or her scoring cup is the winner. Ties are possible, of course.
*There are variants of the game with different layouts of cups and/or different numbers of stones, but this is the most common version. Or, at least it is the version that I have encountered most often. In any case, the mechanics of game play are usually similar, so people more familiar with other versions of the game should have little difficulty adapting to this implementation.
Keith Rose
Games
out of 10 (0 vote)
4 / 
2014-04-14 / 
2023-09-19 / 
03f649415b5871a922f582f711c20354c456a5f8 / 
/ 
YA-Mancala.img_.sit
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
SheepShaver
