Tag Archives: mancala

EJ Keats: Mancala Game


The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation just launched the new Mancala game I designed. It's a simple, leisurely paced counting game with elements loosely based on the Keats book "Dreams". I had fun creating little bottle caps and bolts for the pieces and, after playing the game over and over again, have learned Mancala strategy. Play it now!

Mancala Games

Mancala is an ancient counting game based on the agricultural practice of sowing seeds. It is traditionally played with stones and wooden cups but here are a few digital versions:


Awele/Oware- Mancala uses a photo-realistic background of a large wooden Mancala board. This iOS game allows one or two players to compete.


Mancala FS5 is an iOS game with different skins for the game board, including the jewelry box seen here.


Mancala Snails: This version includes instructional levels to help understand the mechanics of the game. Unfortunately the stones are rendered as yellow snails and the uniform color across the board makes it difficult to count how many pieces are in each cup.


Novel Games Mancala has a rainbow colored set of stones, making things a bit easier to count. But turn down the volume. The music loop will have you pulling your hair out.


UPDATE: Play the new Mancala game I designed for the Keats Foundation here.