Comparison

The Mancala vs Beans

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

The Mancala

Experience an ancient board game of strategy and collection. Learn the simple rules with built-in guides and challenge yourself across ten difficulty levels. Enjoy beautiful graphics and customize your game board.

Highlights
  • Learnable rules with help feature
  • Play against AI or a friend
  • 10 difficulty levels
  • Customizable board and stones
  • Undo and hint options
  • Game statistics
Features
Read full description

Enjoy the world's most ancient board game for free with The Mancala! Everyone can enjoy the game, we have provided a help feature to understand the rules. ■Mancala, Kalah Mancala, also known as Kalah is an ancient board game enjoyed by players all over the world. The object is to collect more stones than your opponent, and the rules are very simple. ■ How to Play We have provided a rule description for beginners. You can learn the rules easily, so everyone can start enjoying Mancala right now! ■ 2 Game Modes You can play against the computer, and also play against your friends sharing a device. ■ 10 Levels of Game Play There are 10 levels for games against the computer. The lower levels are perfect to learn the game, the higher levels will be tough even for advanced players! ■ Beautiful graphics There are three types of Board and Stones. Choose your favorite board and let's start playing. ■Other features - Undo - Hint - Statistics of games against the computer - 2 types of game music - Playing speed adjustment (Fast/Normal/Slow)

About

Beans

Features
Read full description

Beans is Mancala (Kalah) in 3D: the world's oldest sowing game, rebuilt for iPhone. Tap a pit and watch the beans drop one by one across a warm wooden board. The rules take a minute to learn, the strategy lasts a lifetime: earn extra turns, set up captures, empty your side at just the right moment. • 5-MINUTE MATCHES — perfect for a queue, a break, the couch • THREE AI LEVELS — from distracted beginner to relentless strategist • DAILY CHALLENGE — a fresh layout every day, identical for every player in the world; catch up on missed days from the calendar • GUIDED TUTORIAL — learn by playing, in four moves • 3D WITH CHARACTER — real beans, warm wood, careful sound and haptics • YOUR STATS — wins, streaks and records, always at hand • IN 6 LANGUAGES — English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Japanese No account, no sign-up: open and play.

Screenshots

The Mancala4 screens
Beans4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Mancala at none against Beans's 1. The Mancala also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). Beans's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 8 months). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Beans sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. The Mancala asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Mancala ships an update every 8 months, Beans every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
The Mancala versus Beans: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe MancalaBeans
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (97 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings97 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size207 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUNBALANCE CorporationGIUSEPPE CIANI

In-app purchases

None

The Mancala

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Beans

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99

Questions

Is The Mancala free?
The Mancala is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Beans free?
Beans is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do The Mancala or Beans have ads?
Both The Mancala and Beans show ads.
Which is updated more often, The Mancala or Beans?
The Mancala ships an update every 8 months, and Beans every 3 days. Most recently, The Mancala was updated on October 24, 2026 and Beans on October 9, 2026.

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