- Score sheets
- Board games
- Mancala
How to score Mancala
To score a Mancala game, count the stones in your store. Nothing is written down along the way: every stone you sow or capture into your store stays there. When one side runs out of stones, the other player sweeps their leftover stones into their own store, and the bigger store wins.
- 2 players
- 48 stones, 4 in each pit
- Ends when one side is empty
- More stones wins
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This is the real Scorepad, live: your store plus the stones you swept in. The two counts always make 48.
Mancala
Kalah, the two-player mancala with six pits a side and a store at each end: you sow stones around the board, capture across it, and whoever ends with more stones in their store wins.
Mancala on BoardGameGeek.
How to play Mancala, in brief
You and one opponent sow stones around 12 small pits, and whoever ends with more in their store wins. This is Kalah: six pits a side.
- Fill the pitsPut 4 stones in each pit. The six nearest you and the store on your right are yours.
- Sow your stonesScoop up every stone in one of your pits and drop them one at a time into the next pits, counterclockwise, including your store but not your opponent’s.
- Go again, or captureIf your last stone lands in your store, go again. If it lands in an empty pit on your side, opposite a pit with stones, empty both pits into your store.
- Empty a side to end itWhen one side’s pits are all empty, the game ends and the other player adds their leftover stones to their store.
Every stone in your store is a point.
Only the stores count. A stone reaches yours in three ways: sown on your move, captured, or swept in at the end.
What ends up in your store
| How | Stones |
|---|---|
| A stone sown into your storeSkip your opponent’s store as you go around | 1 each |
| A captureYour last stone lands in an empty pit on your side and the pit opposite has stones: bank them all, your last stone too | All of them |
| Leftovers at the endWhen one side is empty, the other player moves every stone left on their side into their own store | All of them |
| To win48 stones in all, so 25 is a win and 24 each is a draw | 25 |
- Sow and bankEvery stone you drop in your own store stays there until the end. Skip your opponent’s store.
- Capture across the boardEnd in an empty pit on your side, opposite a pit with stones, and both go into your store.
- Stop when a side is emptyThe game ends the moment all six pits on one side are empty.
- Sweep the leftoversThe player with stones still in their pits moves them all into their own store.
- Count the storesMore stones wins. The two counts add to 48, so check the sum. A 24 to 24 game is a draw.
Mara empties her side. You sweep yours and win.
Mara’s last move clears her side of the board, which ends the game. You have 19 in your store and 6 stones still in your pits; Mara has 23 in hers. This is the game on the Scorepad above.
| Player | Store, plus stones swept in | Stones |
|---|---|---|
| You | 19 in your store, and the 6 left in your pits swept in19 + 6 | 25 |
| Mara | 23 in her store; her pits are empty23 | 23 |
Two numbers, and a record of every game.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. Mancala needs only two counts. Pick Highest wins and type each player’s final: Tabletales marks the winner and saves the game with the night.
- Count as you sweepIn Totals, type each final, or type it the way you count it (19 + 6) and Tabletales adds it up.
- Ties share the trophyAt 24 to 24 you both get the trophy. The rules have no tiebreak.
- Every rematch, rememberedPlay again and each game is saved on its own. Mancala gets its own page: how often you play and how many you have won.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo of the board. The photos stay with the game they belong to.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Mancala, with its scores
Common Mancala scoring mistakes
- Sowing into your opponent’s storeSkip it as you go around the board. Only your own store collects stones.
- Forgetting the leftover stonesWhen one side runs dry, the other player moves the stones left in their pits into their own store before anyone counts.
- Capturing from an empty pitUnder the standard rule, there is no capture when the pit opposite is empty.
- Leaving the capturing stone behindYour last stone goes into your store along with the stones it captured.
Mancala scoring, answered
- How do you score Mancala?
- At the end, each player counts the stones in their own store, the large pit on their right. The player with more stones wins.
- What happens to the stones left at the end of Mancala?
- When all six pits on one side are empty, the game ends and the other player moves every stone left on their side into their own store.
- Can Mancala end in a tie?
- Yes. With 48 stones, a 24 to 24 finish is a draw. The rules we checked give no way to break it.
Mancala score sheet
Print one for a run of games: a row for each game, both stores, and a running count of games won. Our own design, free to copy.
Score another game
Tables differ: some start with 3, 5 or 6 stones a pit, bank the last stone even when the pit opposite is empty, or give the leftovers to the player who emptied their side. With other starting counts, the total is no longer 48. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Wikipedia (Kalah) and UltraBoardGames.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
