Today’s Mancala layout
The same stones in the same pits for everybody, worked out from today’s date. One row of six pits, one store, and no opponent — just the order you choose to empty them in.
Every stone can be banked
This is a guarantee rather than an encouragement, and it is worth knowing before you start because it changes how you play.
Layouts are searched before they are ever dealt, and one is only used if a complete solution exists — every stone in the store, every pit empty. There is no such thing as an unlucky board here. If a line closes down on you, it is the line rather than the layout, and the right move is to undo and try a different order.
Deals are also checked to offer more than one sensible opening, so the first move is a real decision rather than the only thing available.
How it is scored
Stones banked, out of the total on the board. Clearing everything is the perfect result; time only breaks ties between equal scores.
Because the count is what matters rather than a simple win or loss, a board that ends early still records where you got to. Banking nineteen of twenty-four is a real result, not a failure — though since a complete solution definitely exists, it is also an invitation to undo and look again.
How the board ends
A turn continues as long as your last stone lands in the store or in an empty pit. Land it in a pit that already had stones in it and the board is finished where it stands.
Undo is unlimited, so that is a setback rather than an ending. Most layouts take a couple of attempts before the right order shows itself, and there is nothing lost in exploring.
The streak
Finishing any one daily on the site keeps your streak going — there is a single streak across every game rather than one per game, so you never have to play all of them. This is one of the shorter ones, which makes it a good choice on a day with little time in it.
Past layouts stay playable in the archive, each regenerated from its own date.
Not sure which pit to empty first? The Mancala strategy guide explains counting backwards from the store and why the order matters more than the individual move, with unlimited practice boards beneath it.
Prefer an opponent? Mancala Duel is the full two-sided game, also with a daily.