Controls

You play by choosing a pit to sow from. Tap one of your pits, and its seeds are sown one at a time counterclockwise into the pits ahead.

Oware's capturing is its defining feature:

• Capturing happens when your last seed lands in an enemy pit and brings its total to exactly two or three. You take those seeds, plus any unbroken chain of twos and threes in the enemy pits just before it.
• The mercy rule requires you to leave your opponent at least one seed to play if they would otherwise have none. You cannot make a move that starves them of all options.

The chain-capture rule means a single well-aimed move can scoop several enemy pits at once, which is where the big swings come from.

The first player to capture 25 seeds wins. The computer sharpens across eight levels as it plans deeper attacks.

Tips

• Aim to leave enemy pits at one or two seeds. Since you capture pits that reach exactly two or three, setting up enemy pits at one or two seeds means your next sowing can tip them into capture range.
• Look for chain captures. Capturing works backward through an unbroken run of twos and threes, so a single move can scoop several pits at once if you set the enemy row up correctly.
• Build up seeds on your right for a big sweep. A pit holding many seeds can sow all the way around and land deep in enemy territory, so loading one up can set up a powerful capturing run later.
• Use the mercy rule to your advantage. Because you can't starve your opponent, you can sometimes force them into positions where their only legal moves feed your future captures.
• Defend your threatened pits. Watch which of your pits sit at one or two seeds, since those are exactly the ones your opponent wants to capture, and emptying them removes the target.
• Think in terms of attack. Unlike some mancala games where you build your own store, Oware is about damaging enemy pits, so read every move as an attack and count where your seeds land in their territory.

Frequently asked questions