Congkak

Sow the seeds, fill your storehouse · Malaysian mancala

Seeds travel clockwise — along your row toward your storehouse, then around the far side.

Your move

0Younear row

0Computerfar row

Seeds in storehouse

Opponent

Preview where a move ends · hover or tap a house Go round once before capturing · traditional first-round rule

Rules

Each player owns the row of houses nearest them and the storehouse on their left. Every house starts with the same number of seeds.
On your turn, scoop up all the seeds from one of your houses and sow them one by one, clockwise, into the following holes — your own storehouse included, your opponent's storehouse skipped.
Last seed in your storehouse: take another turn.
Last seed in an occupied house (Congkak only): scoop up everything there and keep sowing — a relay that can run for several laps. In Kalah the turn simply ends.
Last seed in an empty house on your side: capture it together with every seed in the house directly opposite, straight into your storehouse. If the opposite house is empty, your turn ends.
Last seed in an empty house on your opponent's side: your turn ends — the seed has "died".
When either row runs empty, the game ends and each player adds the seeds left on their own side to their storehouse. Most seeds wins.
In the playground both players often start at once, racing to sow. Here the opening is taken in turns.

How the computer plays

Easy looks two moves ahead, grabs the obvious hauls and free turns, and often settles for a decent move rather than the best one.
Medium reads up to seven moves deep and plays with strategy: it keeps seeds on its own row, sets up houses that end in its storehouse, spots capture threats one sowing ahead for both sides, and avoids starving its row.
Hard uses the same strategy but searches as deep as it can in about two seconds, remembering positions it has already worked out. It knows the game is won once a storehouse holds more than half the seeds.