Seed Sow
Scoop seeds from a pit and sow them round the board, landing in your store for a free turn or in an empty pit to capture. A classic sowing game against the computer.
How to play
- Each side has six pits holding four seeds. Your pits are the bottom row and your store is on the right.
- Tap one of your pits. Its seeds are dropped one at a time into the following pits, anticlockwise, including your store but skipping the computer's.
- If your last seed lands in your store, you move again. If it lands in an empty pit on your side, you capture that seed and everything in the pit opposite.
- When one side runs out of seeds, the other side banks what is left. The bigger store wins.
Tips and strategy
- Count from a pit to your store: a pit with exactly that many seeds ends in the store for a free turn.
- Chain extra turns together. Play the pit nearest your store first if it ends in the store, then the next.
- Keep one pit empty with a full pit opposite it as a capture threat.
- Hoarding seeds in your rightmost pit can feel safe but leaves your other pits empty for the computer to exploit.
FAQ
- Is this the same as Mancala?
- It is a Kalah-style sowing game, one of the best known members of the mancala family, with its own look and name.
- Why does the computer skip over my store?
- Each player only drops seeds into their own store, so the computer's sowing passes my store without leaving a seed.
- How long does a game take?
- Usually three to five minutes. The computer takes a moment to think on harder levels.