How to Play Mancalamity: the Mancala Roguelike
Mancalamity is a free single player mancala game you play online in your browser. It turns the classic sowing game into a roguelike solitaire run: build a combo, beat a rising score target and survive eight antes. There is nothing to download and no signup, and a run takes a few minutes. Here is how it works.
Sow seeds around the board
Mancalamity uses a Kalah style mancala board. Pick one of your six pits, take every seed in it and drop them one at a time into the following pits, moving counter-clockwise. The seeds pass through your store, then into the rival row, which never moves, and back around to your side. Each round gives you a limited number of paid sowings, so every choice counts.
Free sowing
If the last seed of a sowing lands in your store, you earn a free sowing: sow again without spending one of your paid sowings. Chaining free sowings is the heart of the game. A whole chain is scored together as a single pot, and every free sowing in it adds to your multiplier.
Captures
If your last seed lands in an empty pit on your side and the rival pit across from it holds seeds, you capture both piles and send them to your store. A capture also adds to the multiplier. Planning a sowing that ends in an empty pit is often worth more than a long chain.
Scoring: chips times mult
Like a deck builder, each turn scores chips multiplied by mult. Seeds add chips when they enter your store, while free sowings and captures add mult. Special seeds such as gold, fire, splitter, sapphire and ruby bend the numbers further, and pit enchantments and store levels add more on top.
Antes, blinds and boss rounds
A run is eight antes. Each ante has a small blind, a big blind and a boss round, and every round has a score target you must reach before your sowings run out. Miss a target and the run ends. Clear the boss of ante eight to win. Each boss changes the rules of its round, so check which one is coming before you spend your coins.
The shop: relics and upgrades
After every cleared round you earn coins, with interest on the coins you save, and visit the shop. Buy relics, passive abilities that fire in order, and board upgrades such as pit enchantments and store levels. You can hold up to five relics, reroll the offers for coins and sell a relic you no longer need.
Daily run and leaderboard
Every day all players get the same seed. You have one official attempt at the daily run, and the leaderboard ranks rounds cleared first, then score. Regular runs are unlimited, so you can practise as much as you like before your official attempt.
Pouches and stakes
You begin with a basic pouch of seeds. Winning runs and reaching goals unlocks new pouches, which change your starting seeds, and higher stakes, which make the targets harder. The collection screen shows what you have found and how to unlock the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mancalamity free to play?
Yes. Mancalamity is free to play online in your browser, with no download and no signup.
Can I play mancala alone?
Yes. Mancalamity is a single player mancala solitaire. You play against score targets, not against an opponent.
What is a mancala roguelike?
It is a mancala game played as a roguelike run. The seeds you draw, the shop offers and the bosses change every run, and a failed run ends the attempt so you start again with new choices.
How does the daily run work?
Everyone gets the same seed each day and one official attempt. The leaderboard ranks rounds cleared, then score, and a new daily starts at midnight UTC.
How is it different from regular mancala?
Regular Kalah is a two player race to hold the most seeds. In Mancalamity you only use your own side and chase score with combos, relics and upgrades.