Mancala. vs The Mancala
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mancala.
Experience Mancala, an ancient strategy board game. Move marbles counter-clockwise, aiming to collect the most in your home hole. Enjoy a classic game of skill and foresight.
- Ancient board game gameplay
- Counter-clockwise marble movement
- Strategic home hole collection
- Simple rules, deep strategy
- Single-player game
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Mancala (also known as Kalah) is an ancient board game. Pick up marbles from any of bottom holes and move them counter-clockwise. If your move ends at your home hole (right one) you can move again. The game ends when all six holes on either side are empty. The winner is the player with the most marbles in home hole.
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.
- Learnable rules with help feature
- Play against AI or a friend
- 10 difficulty levels
- Customizable board and stones
- Undo and hint options
- Game statistics
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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)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Mancala at none against Mancala.'s 11. The Mancala also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 80%). Mancala.'s advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (37K vs 97). On price, rating 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
Both are free to download. Mancala. sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. The Mancala asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Mancala. against 4.8 for The Mancala. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mancala. has 37K ratings behind it against 97, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of Mancala.'s written reviews are positive against 100% of The Mancala's.
Mancala. ships an update every 2 months, The Mancala every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mancala. | The Mancala |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (37K ratings) | 4.8 (97 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 37K — better | 97 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 8 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #121 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.4 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 85 MB | 207 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sergey Skosyrev | UNBALANCE Corporation |
Customer experience
Mancala.
The Mancala
Bugs and requests
Mancala.
Reported bugs
2 issues- Hint button not working properly
- Peg solitaire mode has unsolvable levels
Requested features
5 requests- Multiplayer mode
- Difficulty settings for AI
- Earn in-game currency through gameplay
- More single-player modes and puzzles
- Clearer in-app instructions and rules
The Mancala
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Mancala.
- 50 diamonds$1.99
- 55 diamonds$1.99
- 90 diamonds$2.99
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- Advanced Features$4.99
- 150 diamonds$4.99
- Avalanche Advanced Features$4.99
- 145 diamonds$4.99
- 180 diamonds$6.99
- 350 diamonds$9.99
- 750 diamonds$19.99
The Mancala
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Mancala. free?
Is The Mancala free?
Which has better reviews, Mancala. or The Mancala?
Do Mancala. or The Mancala have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mancala. or The Mancala?
Other comparisons
