Comparison

Mancala+ vs MAJI Mahjong School

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

Head to head
About

Mancala+

Experience the classic African board game with a digital twist. Challenge a computer opponent with adjustable difficulty or play against a friend. Offers standard Kalah rules with options for starting seeds per pit.

Highlights
  • Play against AI opponent
  • Local multiplayer mode
  • Selectable difficulty levels
  • Adjustable starting seeds per pit
  • Standard Kalah rules implementation
Features
Read full description

Play the classic African board game against a challenging computer opponent, or another person! Features: - Selectable difficulty level - Human vs. iPhone or Human vs. Human - Select from 3 to 6 starting seeds per pit This version of Mancala uses standard Kalah rules: - Each player's pits are filled with a preset number of seeds - On any given turn, a player may sow seeds from any of their pits, proceeding counterclockwise around the board, skipping the opponent's store - If the last seed lands in the player's own store, the player gets a free turn - If the last seed lands in an empty pit on the player's side, and the opposite pit contains seeds, the player captures both the single seed, and all seeds in the corresponding pit on the opponent's side - When either player has no seeds in any of their pits, the other player's seeds move into their store, ending the game - At the end of the game, the player with the highest number of seeds in his or her store is the winner COMING SOON: - More advanced Mancala rule sets, including Oware

About

MAJI Mahjong School

Features
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Mahjong School — gather your friends, deal a hand Friends in the room? Everyone plays from their own phone. Friends far away? Open an online room and send them the code. It's proper Taiwanese 16-tile mahjong — flowers, tai scoring, dealer streaks, rounds and winds, all of it. HOW TO START A TABLE — THREE STEPS 1. Tap "Host" — the first button on the main screen. Your room opens with a 4-character code on it, something like MJ7K 2. Tap "Invite Friends" — the code and a link go straight into Messages or LINE. Friends tap the link and they're seated; reading four characters out loud works just as well 3. Everyone here? Tap "Start" — still short a player? Hand the empty seats to the AI. One person is enough to fill a table Your friends only have to do one thing: open the app, tap "Join Online Room", and type those four characters. No account, no payment. THE CODE STAYS PUT • The room lives on a server, not inside your phone — close the app, step back to the lobby, come back in, and it's still the same code. Your friends arrive where you told them to • If someone drops mid-game, they come back to the same seat, the same hand and the same chips • Friends sitting next to you can also walk into the same room through Nearby, over Wi-Fi / Bluetooth NEW TO MAHJONG? START HERE • Characters suit printed with Arabic numerals, so tiles are easy to read • A tutorial that walks you from draw-and-discard to chow, pong and scoring • Ready-hand hints and live tai estimates; winnings are worked out for you PROPER TAIWANESE 16-TILE • Flowers and replacements, kong-on-kong, robbing a kong, last-tile wins • Dealer streak 2N+1, round and seat winds, East-only / half / full games • Stakes — set what a base and a tai are worth and see what the hand actually pays WHAT YOU BUILD OVER TIME • Levels and avatars — play to unlock combs, scarves and accessories, and build your own chicken • Hand Collection — special hands you've won are recorded: flush, big three dragons, all honors and more • Stats — win rate, deal-in rate, self-draws; watch yourself improve • Replay — still puzzling over that discard? Rewind the whole game and scrub to any hand • Cloud progress — switch phones or reinstall, and your level, nickname and avatar come back with you FREE AND PAID Hosting, joining by code, nearby play, solo play against the AI, stats and the tutorial are all free, with no account required. • Mahjong School Pro (one-time purchase, Family Sharing) — unlocks house rules: custom tai values and game length. If the host has Pro, the whole table plays by your house rules; nobody else has to buy anything Mahjong was always meant to be played with other people. Gather a table. Privacy Policy: https://maji.com.tw/mj/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Mancala+2 screens
MAJI Mahjong School4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mancala+ at none against MAJI Mahjong School's 5. Mancala+ also leads on iOS requirement (3.1 vs 17.0). MAJI Mahjong School's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months). On price, ads and device support 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. MAJI Mahjong School sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Mancala+ asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mancala+ ships an update every 3 months, MAJI Mahjong School every 5 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Mancala+ versus MAJI Mahjong School: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMancala+MAJI Mahjong School
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.1 (565 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews55.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings565 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS3.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size0 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSpiny SoftwareBoska Studio

Bugs and requests

Mancala+

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on certain iOS versions
  • Incompatible with newer iOS updates
  • Incorrect game mechanics and rule enforcement

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add instructions and tutorial for new players
  • Provide option to slow down animation speed
  • Allow listening to music during gameplay
  • Implement online/multiplayer mode
  • Add more difficulty levels and customization options

MAJI Mahjong School

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Mancala+

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

MAJI Mahjong School

Subscriptions4
  • Online Rooms (Monthly)7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Maji Pro (Monthly)$3.991 Month
  • Online Rooms (Yearly)7 Days trial$15.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Maji Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Mahjong School Pro$8.99

Questions

Is Mancala+ free?
Mancala+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is MAJI Mahjong School free?
MAJI Mahjong School is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Mancala+ or MAJI Mahjong School have ads?
Neither Mancala+ nor MAJI Mahjong School shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mancala+ or MAJI Mahjong School?
Mancala+ ships an update every 3 months, and MAJI Mahjong School every 5 days. Most recently, Mancala+ was updated on October 31, 2026 and MAJI Mahjong School on October 31, 2026.

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