# Mancala : Board Game — user reviews > 73 indexed App Store user reviews of Mancala by AppOn, rated 2.60/5 from 241 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mancala-board-game/id854357402/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mancala-board-game/id854357402.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 69 · 4★ 23 · 3★ 10 · 2★ 26 · 1★ 113 ## What do users think of Mancala? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 👍 Simple and clear gameplay mechanics - ⚙️ Customizable difficulty settings - 📱 Minimal ad interference (in some versions) - 🎮 CPU opponent available - 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing user interface - 👥 Online multiplayer with random opponents **Cons** - 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes - 🐛 Constant glitches during gameplay - 💸 Excessive advertisements - 💸 Pay-to-win structure with microtransactions - 🔌 Poor online connectivity and dropped connections - ⚠️ Unfair CPU opponent behavior (cheating allegations) - 💰 Loss of chips/rewards due to bugs - ⏱️ Timer system exploited by opponents - 📊 Inaccurate marble/chip counting - 🎮 Unbalanced difficulty levels - 🔧 Poor cross-platform compatibility - 😤 Toxic online player base **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes on startup or during gameplay - Game freezes during opponent's turn - Chips/coins disappear or are incorrectly calculated - Marble counting is inaccurate - Timer runs out but turn doesn't switch - Connection drops when switching between WiFi and cellular - Ads still appear after paying to remove them - App freezes when accessing in-app store - Game boots player out when receiving notifications or calls - Online matchmaking hangs indefinitely - Opponent name changes mid-game with stat changes - Glitches cause automatic losses - CPU takes multiple turns in succession - Winner doesn't receive chips in online games - Poor performance on iOS compared to Android **Most requested features** - Fix timer system to automatically forfeit when expired - Implement proper chip loss prevention on disconnections - Add volume settings that persist - Improve connection stability for online play - Add game settings for marble count customization - Implement anti-cheat measures for online play - Increase online player base through better advertising - Add notification/call handling without losing game - Implement proper turn timeout enforcement ## Newest reviews (16 of 73) ### 2/5 — Crashes *2020-06-16, version 1.4* This worked great on my Android. When I switched to Apple, it won’t even come up right. It crashes. I’m disappointed ### 1/5 — Crash *2020-02-20, version 1.4* Game keep close down every single time. ### 1/5 — Worst App *2020-01-03, version 1.4* Worst app don’t have settings Volume automatically turned on every time I like Mancala not with this developer ### 2/5 — Fun Game *2019-11-11, version 1.4* But it keeps crashing ... ### 2/5 — Poor *2019-10-21, version 1.4* Looks unattractive, play doesn’t flow smoothly. There are more attractive, nicer feeling versions of this game. I’m off to delete this and play one of the other versions instead ### 1/5 — Fix the darn game *2019-08-31, version 1.4* Constantly crashing. Steals your gems. The game is great if it wasn't crashing every time I attempt to play! Literally about to build my own mancala app just so there's at least ONE decent game out there! Fix it! ### 1/5 — Crashes *2019-08-04, version 1.4* I’m highly frustrated with this game it just crashed 4 times in a row and not I can’t play. If you like to build points, this app isn’t for you! I’m about to uninstall ### 1/5 — Freezes too much *2019-05-22, version 1.4* Freezes too much. Loses internet connection half the time. ### 1/5 — Deceiving *2019-03-31, version 1.4* The marbles stack, so it looks like there are fewer in the slot than there really is. ### 1/5 — Junk *2019-03-29, version 1.4* Game is complete junk. Will freeze up on other players turn and will take your coins away. DO NOT DOWNLOAD ### 2/5 — Mediocre *2019-03-06* I really enjoy playing this board game in real-life, however, I can not deal with the constant glitches and cheating. I consistently encounter people who, when they know they are about to lose, purposely run the time out and freeze the game. Ultimately, I end up losing and see a reduction in my chips. Extremely unfair. ### 1/5 — Online play is awful *2019-02-12, version 1.4* The opponent will regularly timeout on their turn and the game freezes. When u leave the screen after 10+ minutes of waiting u leave the screen and lose ur chips ### 1/5 — Glitches *2019-01-28, version 1.4* I used to love to play this and I hate it how it keeps glitching. I’m close to winning and it freezes so I end up loosing my chips. ### 1/5 — BaM *2019-01-02, version 1.4* This game doesn’t work ### 1/5 — Games freezes very often & Chips which you earn will be automatically gone. *2018-12-29* Worst and frustrating. Probably the opponent is hacking or something, the chips I earn while playing are getting robbing they just can’t go like that uninstalling the APP. ### 1/5 — Not worth it *2018-12-20, version 1.4* Fun game but horrible app to play with! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Ads literally every time you press pause *2026-06-22* This game plays unskippable ads every time you press pause also the animation takes so long and there’s no way to speed it up or skip that either very annoying if you just want to play a quick match or just want to train ### 1/5 — Impossible to win *2025-01-06, version 2.7* It is impossible to win if you’re not the one starting the game. ### 1/5 — Mancala *2023-09-26, version 2.7* There’s too many cheating on this game,especially when you are playing with the cpu. Please you guys should improve ### 1/5 — Horrible *2023-07-30, version 2.7* I play this game irf and there no such thing as capture and when I complete the board I am supposed to get the rest of the marbles ### 1/5 — My kids died for this *2022-11-04* When I opened this app up all of my kids were taken and became child labors in Indonesia. Timmy, 14 died of foot disease after making the Quavo Jordan 4’s. JaQuavis, 12 couldn’t make couldn’t make it through the harsh Indonesian summer, he lost his life to a tiger that had a taste for flesh. This all happened because of this game don’t get it. ### 1/5 — No one to play *2021-12-12, version 2.7* There’s rarely anyone to play online. You should amp up your advertising to have more players. ### 1/5 — Trash *2020-12-09, version 1.4* Nothing works. You tap the screen nothing. I deleted the game less then 10 mins after downloading. This app is trash ### 1/5 — This is not a game it’s a bugfest! *2020-11-09, version 1.4* This was originally a great but buggy game. Now it’s all bugs, and rarely works. Don’t bother downloading this sad farce. Should removed from the App Store. ### 1/5 — Glitches make it impossible to enjoy *2020-08-03, version 1.4* There’s a glitch every time I play. I have to close out the app after every game to start a new one. Sometimes can’t even start a game without a glitch. ### 1/5 — Not good *2020-03-31, version 1.4* During online game, it crashed a few times. And I lost my points because of the software error. Also the advertisements are too much. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Basic game with minimal ad interference *2024-12-14* I like how basic and clear this game is. Experts might not enjoy the announcements of whose turn it is or when pieces are captured, but I like its simplicity and options when playing the CPU. Too many newer versions have major ad interference or don’t allow for modifying difficulty settings without paying up front. ### 5/5 — Awful *2019-07-08, version 1.4* It cheats . No real moncala. Unfaiar ### 5/5 — my favorite app! *2019-06-03* this is the only app i use anymore! people are always asking me, "why haven't I seen you in a while?" and "jesus john, im really worried- your kids have been texting me that they're trying to contact you, why haven't you responded?!" and to this i tell them, "im playing the best app in the world!" p.s. Lots of gongle dongle! best part in my opinion! ### 5/5 — Great Game *2018-12-18, version 1.4* Best Mancala app I have ever played ### 4/5 — Goooodish *2020-06-20* •Good but has a lot of ads •If you’re getting this app so you can play with “Random Online players” then this app might not be the app for you because there are not very many players. I mean you can touch “Random Online Player” and it will search FOREVER. As you can see (in June 2020) there is only about 200 ratings. ### 4/5 — Mancala *2018-03-12* Why is it that I paid for this app yet I still have to see ads? Also, it gets stuck while opening and sometimes I have to open the app 3 or 4 times before I can actually play the game. What’s wrong with this thing? ### 4/5 — Addicting but... *2016-12-01* It's really stupid that if the opposite player leaves the game, the timer runs out and nothing happens. So I have to exit and then I end up losing my chips that I just earned. Waste of time and patience. Can you PLEASE fix this now!! ### 3/5 — Fun, but frustrating online *2018-01-03* Players will stop playing when they realize they might lose. The timer is meaningless for each player’s turn as when the countdown ends it is still the other player’s turn. The timer should switch the turns or forfeit the game for a player who goes beyond the timer. ### 3/5 — Miscalculated marbles *2017-12-30, version 1.3* Sometimes it says I have a number less than it counts. It’s frustrating, but I love this game ### 3/5 — Great for playing against random opponents *2016-12-24* Horrible because the service drops too easily. If My phone switches to wifi during a game, it kicks me out and I lose my game. If the timer goes out for my opponent and doesn't make a move, it'll give me another random opponent and still does not allow me to make my move and makes me lose. That should be fixed. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-10.*