Controls

You play by choosing a pit to sow from, as in other mancala games, but on a larger board of two rows per side. Tap a pit to pick up its seeds and sow them.

Bao's captures and relays are what set it apart:

• Capturing and relaying happens when your sowing lands in the right spot opposite enemy seeds. You capture those seeds and relay them back into your own rows, where they continue sowing, extending your turn.
• The front row is critical: a player who has no legal move available in their front row loses. So keeping your front row alive and playable is a constant concern, not just an afterthought.

Seeds enter the board gradually in the opening, and the relay captures make single turns long and intricate.

You lose if you can't make a legal front-row move. Against the computer, the difficulty rises across eight levels.

Tips

• Start slow and observe. Bao is deep, so your first games are best spent watching how sowing and captures unfold rather than trying to plan far ahead, since the patterns take time to see.
• Protect your front row. Losing your ability to move in the front row loses the game, so keep seeds distributed there and avoid emptying it in a way that leaves you no legal move.
• Look for relay captures. A well-placed sowing that captures and relays can extend your turn dramatically, so learning to spot these chains is the single biggest source of an advantage.
• Think about what your turn leaves behind. Because captures depend on the arrangement of seeds, the position you leave for your opponent matters as much as what you gain, so plan for their reply.
• Count carefully before sowing. Each move is exact, so counting where your last seed lands tells you whether it captures, which is essential to setting up the relays that win turns.
• Be patient with the learning curve. Bao is considered the hardest mancala game, so steady practice matters more than quick results, and understanding grows game by game rather than all at once.

Frequently asked questions