Sungka: Congklak & Mancala

Sungka is the classic Filipino mancala board game: two rows of seven houses, one ulo each, and shells sown counter-clockwise until the last one lands. Play it offline, against the computer or with a friend on one phone, or open a table on your WiFi and play across the room.

TWENTY-SIX GAMES, ONE BOARD
It opens on the game your language or country knows, and any other is a tap away.
• Sungka as it is played, both opening at once, or in turns with a coin toss; Barangay classic and Tournament play one round.
• Congklak (congkak, congka): the same game sown clockwise, in its own words.
• Mancala (kalah, kalaha, bantumi), six houses of four; Mancala Basic, Japan's race to empty your side; and Dakon, Java's five of five.
• Ohvalhu (naranj), the Maldives' eight holes of eight cowries.
• Pallanguzhi (pallankuli), Tamil Nadu's seven holes of six cowries: the hand goes on with the next hole, and four in a hole is its row's to take.
• Ô ăn quan (ô quan), Vietnam's five squares a side with a big one at each end that is nobody's, and Bày khòm, Cambodia's ten houses in an oval: sown either way, and a capture goes on.
• Oware (awalé, wari), Warri, Wahree and the Bohnenspiel: no store is sown, and a count takes.
• Mangala from Turkey, and Toguz kumalak (toguz korgool), Central Asia's nine holes of nine, where three makes a hole yours.
• Gebeta (gabata), three rows of six from Eritrea and Ethiopia: both open at once, and a capture takes the file across.
• Four rows, each player sowing round their own two: Hawalis (bao kiarabu) from Oman and Hus (otjitoto) from Namibia, where a capture takes the hole across and the one behind it; Moruba from South Africa and Tshuba from Mozambique, where it takes one more you pick besides; Omweso (mweso) from Uganda, laid out by its players; and Bao la kujifunza, East Africa's bao for beginners.
• Or set your own: houses a side, shells a house, laps, captures.

THE REAL RULES
• Sabog capture: land in an empty house of yours and take everything across from it.
• Extra turn when your last shell drops into your own ulo.
• Chains: land on shells and keep sowing.
• Play in turns, with a coin toss for the opener, or the traditional opening where both players start at once.
• Burnt houses, stranded shells and an optional match clock. Every rule is a switch.

FIVE COMPUTER LEVELS
From Baguntao, who is still learning, to Katas, who counts every shell. The computer's hand shows as a ghost so you can follow each move, and the top level will point at the best sow when you ask.

TWO PLAYERS, ONE BOARD
Pass and play on a single phone or tablet with both rows live. Or host a table on your WiFi, share a four-character code and let the family join from their own phones. No account, no internet needed.

LEARN AND IMPROVE
Short lessons on a live board, for whichever game you pick: the board, sowing, the opening, the capture, extra turns, rounds and the endgame, each one taught on that game's board and in its own words. A puzzle every day. After every match: its turning point, your accuracy against the best sow and your rating.

MADE FOR THE MAT
Narra, kapis, marble, gold and ruby boards; cowries and round beads in kapis, gold, glass and stone; and mats, woven in many colours or floored in gold, jade and ruby, from the board shop. Two themes, Banig by day and Gabi by night. In 26 languages, English, Tagalog and Bisaya among them. Large text and screen reader support.

Collect coins every day you visit, for every win against the computer and for watching an ad whenever you like. Your coins and board-shop items are kept on our server and follow your phone's game account to your other phones and tablets of the same kind, with your lessons and puzzles.

Sungka is played across the Philippines, and the same board is congkak in Malaysia, congklak or dakon in Indonesia, chongka' in the Marianas and kalah in a shop. This is that board, faithfully, in your pocket. Contains ads and in-app purchases. Terms: https://sungka.puhgeh.com/terms/

Recent changes:
• A Shop on Home: the board shop, coin packs, a hint for an ad and the plans, all in one place.
• Your name and coins stay at the top of Home as you scroll, and the game's card says Tap to change.
• An evening reminder, if you want one, on a day you haven't opened Sungka.
• Now in Hindi.