Comparison

Ancient Games vs Mancala

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

Head to head
About

Ancient Games

Explore and play a collection of ancient board games brought back to life with modern app design. Enjoy offline and online play, collect customizable game pieces, and tackle fun challenges. Save progress across all games with cloud saves.

Highlights
  • Play multiple ancient games in one app
  • Offline and online multiplayer
  • AI, friend, and random player matches
  • Collectible game pieces and boards
  • Challenges with rule variants
  • Free cloud saves across games
Features
Read full description

/!\ If you play more than one of my Ancient Games, I suggest you delete the individual apps and install this one. It will allow you to play them all and save disk storage. /!\ -Languages : English, French, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, German, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Turkish. The past is full of fascinating games that haves been mostly forgotten. The Ancient Games collection aims to resurrect them as a meticulously crafted mix between what a player wants from an historical game and what he/she expects of a modern application. Features : -Play against the IA, friends and random players from around the world (Coming back soon) -Play Online & Offline. -Multiple collectibles : boards, game pieces, dice, nameplates, etc. -Challenges (Fun rule variants) -Free cloudsave across the collection : your progress in one game is available in all the others. -Much more features to come! Currently, the collection is comprised of four games : the Royal Game of Ur, Senet, XII Scripta and Puluc, but 40 games are in the works! You can see the roadmap here : https://trello.com/b/QYtOXwJi/ancient-games-roadmap Each game will be added to the Ancient Games app and will have its own individual app as well. The privacy policy has been updated in accordance to the latest data protection laws.

About

Mancala

This app offers a classic Mancala board game experience with adjustable AI difficulty and a built-in strategy coach. Enjoy smooth animations and a distraction-free interface for endless strategic play, playable offline.

Highlights
  • Three AI difficulty levels
  • AI thinks up to 10 moves deep
  • Built-in strategy coach
  • Undo moves and learn
  • Elegant wooden board design
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

Experience one of the world's oldest and most beloved board games, beautifully reimagined for iPhone and iPad. Mancala - Stone & Pit brings the timeless strategy of the ancient pit-and-pebble game to your fingertips. Whether you're a lifelong fan or discovering Mancala for the first time, this is the definitive mobile version. PLAY YOUR WAY - Three CPU difficulty levels: Rookie, Sharp, and Counter - Challenge yourself against an AI that thinks up to 10 moves deep - 2-Player Pass & Play: share one device and take on a friend - Track your record: wins, losses, and streaks for each difficulty TRAINING MODE - Built-in strategy coach analyzes every move - See scoring breakdowns, capture opportunities, and extra turn options - Undo moves and learn from mistakes BEAUTIFUL & INTUITIVE - Elegant wooden board design with smooth stone animations - Four handcrafted board themes - Sound effects and haptics, with a mute toggle - Clean, distraction-free interface - Easy to learn, endlessly strategic NO HASSLE - No account required - No internet connection needed to play - One-time purchase to remove ads forever Mancala has been played for over a thousand years. Now it fits in your pocket.

Screenshots

Ancient Games3 screens
Mancala4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Ancient Games at 287 against Mancala's 14. Ancient Games also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Ancient Games sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Mancala sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ancient Games holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ancient Games has 287 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Ancient Games's written reviews are positive against 75% of Mancala's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ancient Games ships an update every 3 weeks, Mancala every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Ancient Games versus Mancala: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAncient GamesMancala
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (287 ratings) — better4.4 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews78.3% of reviews — better75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings287 — better14
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size212 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSullivan BousiniereEsbro Labs LLC

Customer experience

Ancient Games

All ratings262 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral3.4%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive78.3%
Neutral7.2%
Negative14.5%

Mancala

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Ancient Games

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • Game freezes after match completion
  • Screen goes dark and becomes unresponsive post-game
  • Ad removal purchase only lasts one game
  • Paid ad removal still shows advertisements
  • Game continues playing after player wins
Show 6 more
  • Cannot make legal moves despite availability
  • XII Scripta piece stacking rules not enforced correctly
  • Purchased board content inaccessible due to subscription requirement
  • Report button links to Mail app instead of App Store
  • Text rendering issues making content hard to read
  • Online play frequently unavailable or non-functional

Requested features

10 requests
  • Two-player local multiplayer mode
  • Friends list and challenge system
  • Leaderboards and ranking system
  • Win/loss statistics and game history tracking
  • Ability to play offline while waiting for online opponents
Show 5 more
  • Permanent one-time purchase option instead of subscription
  • More ancient games added to collection
  • Harder difficulty levels beyond current maximum
  • Better XP progression for unlocking boards
  • Improved customer support contact options

Mancala

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Ancient Games

Subscriptions1
  • AG+$3.991 Month
One-time8
  • Ancient Artifact$0.99
  • Purchase Game Edition2 variants$1.99
  • Dawn of Civilization DLC$2.99
Show 5 more
  • Purchase Game Edition$2.99
  • Skeleton Key$2.99
  • Purchase Game Edition$3.99
  • Purchase Game Edition$10.99
  • Royal Pass$12.99
1 purchases

Mancala

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$3.99

Questions

Is Ancient Games free?
Ancient Games is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mancala free?
Mancala is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ancient Games or Mancala?
Ancient Games is rated higher. Ancient Games averages 4.6 out of 5 from 287 ratings, while Mancala averages 4.4 from 14 ratings.
Do Ancient Games or Mancala have ads?
Both Ancient Games and Mancala show ads.
Which is updated more often, Ancient Games or Mancala?
Ancient Games ships an update every 3 weeks, and Mancala every 5 weeks. Most recently, Ancient Games was updated on November 3, 2026 and Mancala on November 5, 2026.

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