Tips for Beginners Mancala Players

Video Transcript

"Hello! My name is Melissa Schenk and on behalf of expertvillage.com, today we’re discussing strategy techniques for playing the game Mancala. So the next strategy technique that we’re going to be discussing we’ve given it the name “playing from bin F as often as possible.” If we take a look at the board, I’ll explain exactly what I’m trying to say here. For me, if this is my side of the Mancala A-F, we’re talking about playing from bin F as often as possible. For you, this is your side of the board G-L, for you it’ll be playing from bin L as often as possible Basically, if the final smaller bin that leads into your larger Mancala. Now, games, you have to keep in mind, of Mancala are often won or lost on the margin by 1 or 2 extra pebbles. That can make all the difference into your larger Mancala. The games our often won or lost only by the difference of one or two stones, so by playing from bin F as often as possible, feeding it 1 or 2 stones at a time, it truly can make all of the difference. Now, in this case, by playing from bin F there is only one stone left, so I would get another turn. 1, 2. I would get to go again, and there you have it. Bin F has one more in it. Put that stone in, you would get to go again, so I’ll play from D and I’ll put it into E, or I might have gone from C-D etc. etc. This not only accelerates the accumulation of stones in your Mancala, it also avoids having to pass pebbles over to your opponent if more than one pebble accumulates in bin F. "