Backgammon
FOOLFISH GAMES
Fish Mancala
Play Fish Mancala, an ocean-themed Kalah board game.
Fish Mancala
Game details
- Developer
- FoolFish Studio
- Category
- Board
- Controls
- Mouse · Touch · Keyboard
- Players
- Local multiplayer
- Devices
- desktop · mobile
- Published
- 2026-09-29
- Orientation
- Portrait and landscape
Game previews
About Fish Mancala
Play Fish Mancala, an ocean-themed Kalah board game. Sow pearls through shell pools, collect them in your reef store and capture pearls from the opposite pool. Choose three computer levels or share one device with a friend. The same 48-piece rules as classic Mancala apply.
How to play Fish Mancala
Each player has six pits containing four pearls and one empty store. Blue Reef uses the lower row and the right store. Choose a nonempty pit on your side.
Sow one pearl at a time counter-clockwise into each following pit and your own store. Skip your opponent’s store. Finish in your store to take another turn.
If the final pearl lands in an empty pit on your side and the opposite pit is not empty, capture both that pearl and the opposite pearls into your store.
When either side has no pearls in its six pits, the other player collects all remaining pearls. The larger store wins; 24–24 is a draw.
Play the computer at Easy, Medium or Hard, or share one device with a friend. Click, tap, or use Tab and Enter. Hint suggests a pit. Continue game restores your board. Sign in on FoolFish before opening for account checkpoints. This release has no remote rooms.
Controls
Mouse
Touch
Keyboard
A pearl-sowing game on the reef
Fish Mancala gives the Kalah board an ocean setting. Six shell pools belong to each reef, with a larger store at either end. Each pool starts with four pearls. Blue Reef uses the lower row and the right-hand store; Coral Reef uses the upper row and the left-hand store. Choose a computer opponent or share a screen with a friend. The theme changes the board’s appearance while keeping the same rules and forty-eight pieces as classic Mancala.
Follow the pearls around the board
Pick a pool on your own row and lift all its pearls. Drop one pearl into every following space, counter-clockwise. Include your reef’s store and skip the other store. A large pile can travel around the whole board and return to its starting pool. Every pool displays its count, and the sowing animation shows each drop so you can follow where the pearls go.
Chain extra turns through your store
A pearl that finishes in your own store earns another move. Count the spaces from a pool to the store before choosing it. You can use the extra turn to make another deposit or prepare a capture. There are no fish abilities or random dice rolls in this game: both reefs follow the same sowing rules. The current reef and glowing legal pools make it clear whose turn comes next.
Capture pearls across the reef
When the final pearl lands in a previously empty pool on your side, check the pool directly opposite. If it contains pearls, gather those pearls and your final one into your store. An empty opposite pool gives no capture, and finishing on the other reef’s side cannot trigger one. Watch the empty pools as carefully as the large piles; a quiet position can become a useful capture on the next move.
Count the catch at the end
As soon as either reef has no pearls in its six small pools, the game ends. The reef with pearls remaining gathers them into its store. The larger total wins; equal stores produce a 24–24 draw. Play again starts with the losing reef, or alternates the starter after a draw. Starting a new mode begins with Blue Reef. There are no entry fees, prizes or purchases.
Learn, practice and continue later
Learn to play walks through the board, sowing, extra turns, captures and scoring in seven short steps. Choose Easy for random legal computer moves, Medium for an opponent that favours extra turns and captures, or Hard for deeper planning. Hint highlights a suggested pool. Touch, mouse and keyboard controls work in portrait and landscape. Browser saves let you continue later; sign in on FoolFish before opening for account checkpoints. Friends mode uses one device, without remote rooms.
Common questions
Are Fish Mancala rules different from Mancala?
No. Both versions share the Kalah rules and computer code. Fish Mancala uses reef colours, shell pools and pearls.
How many pearls are on the board?
Forty-eight. Twelve small pools each start with four pearls, and both stores start empty.
Can I play Fish Mancala with a friend?
Yes, by taking turns on the same phone, tablet or computer. Remote rooms are not included.
Does Fish Mancala share my classic Mancala save?
No. Each game has its own saved board, so you can keep a separate match in each version.
