It recurses n levels then returns the move which will eventually produce the most desirable board state. The bot uses a minimax tree to select the next move, meaning it chooses the move that will produce the best outcome assuming the opponent will do the same. My goal was to build a mancala bot that could beat both me and other mancala bots. This project was for Northwestern’s EECS 348. Here’s a writeup of general techniques and results. The game has no African origins despite many claims to the contrary, even by its inventor, because there is no such game in the whole of Africa.I spent the past week goofing around with genetic algorithms to develop a heuristic for evaluating a mancala board for more successful move selection. A second turn is allowed when it falls into the Kalah. Players sow pieces around the board, including one into their Kalah as they pass.Ĭross captures are made when their last piece falls into an empty pit on a player's side, opposite an occupied pit on the opponent's side. Kalah is played on a 2 X 6 Board with a "Kalah" at each end. He started selling it in 1944, patented the design and rules in the 1950s and founded the Kalah Game Company in Holbrook, Massachusetts in 1958. ![]() Kalah was invented in 1940 by an American, William Julius Champion Jr. The Rules in American commercial Mancala sets are actually for Kalah. The players now count their stones in their mancala and the player with the most stones wins the game. Player 2 has 3 stones left and can add them to his/her mancala. The player who has still have stones left on his side of the board will capture all of those stones. End of the GameĪs soon as all the six pits on one side of the board have been emptied, the game ends. Now, you play your rightmost hole to score another point and drop your last stone into your opponent's 3rd hole (this blocks him to do the same).Ĭheck here for more detailed information about the best opening of Mancala. This score one point and enables you an additional turn. It's ideal to open with your 3rd hole because now your last stone lands in your mancala. Take now all 3 stones (green, red and blue) and place them in your store (mancala). Like said above: if you drop the last stone into an empty pit on your side of the board, you capture all of the pieces in the pit directly across from it on your opponent's side of the board.īy dropping the green stone into the empty pit, you will capture the two stones (red and blue) on the other side of the board. The game continues with players alternating turns. If you capture stones, place them directly in your Mancala (store).Īfter you do dropped all your stones (and capture any stones,) your turn is over. If the last stone you drop in in an empty pit, you capture the stones and any stones in the pit directly across from it on your opponent's side of the board. If the last stone you drop is in your own store, you get a free turn. If you run into your opponent's store, skip it. If you drop a stone into your own store, deposit it and that stone is safe. In a counter-clockwise direction, the player now deposit one stone into each pit. ![]() The starting player choose a pit on his side of the board and pick up all the stones. ![]() Have most stones in your mancala after all the stones on one side of the gameboard are captured. The six small holes on your side of the game board belong to you.Įach player places 4 stones (of every color) in each of his 6 pits. The Mancala-board is made up of two rows of six holes or pits. Players sit opposite to each other with the game board in between.
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