Congkak vs Computer

How to Play Congkak — Rules, Captures and Strategy

Congkak is a traditional Malay mancala game for two players, played on a boat-shaped wooden board with fourteen small houses and two big storehouses called rumah. Each player starts with 49 seeds — seven in each of seven houses — and sows them counter-clockwise around the board, racing to bank the most seeds in their own rumah. This free online version plays the full traditional rules: relay sowing, free turns, cross-board captures and the dramatic "mati". Play a friend on one screen or take on the computer at three difficulty levels — right in your browser, no download needed.

A Malaysian and Southeast Asian classic

Congkak is one of the best-loved traditional games of Malaysia and the wider Malay world. It has been played for centuries across Southeast Asia: in Indonesia it is known as congklak or dakon, in Brunei and Singapore as congkak, and close cousins such as sungka thrive in the Philippines. The game belongs to the ancient mancala family of sowing games, whose boards have been found carved into stone across Africa and Asia and played for well over a thousand years. Traditionally congkak is played with cowrie shells, tamarind seeds or pebbles on a carved wooden board shaped like a boat or a dragon. Once a fixture of kampung evenings, it is still taught in Malaysian schools and celebrated at cultural festivals today.

The goal

Collect more seeds than your opponent. There are 98 seeds in play, so whoever ends the game holding 50 or more in their rumah wins, and 49 each is a draw. Every move is about steering the final seed of your sowing: into your rumah for a free turn, or into an empty house on your side for a capture.

The board

The board has two rows of seven houses (traditionally called kampung). You own the row nearest you and the rumah (storehouse) at your right-hand end; your opponent owns the other row and the other rumah. At the start every house holds seven seeds and both rumah are empty. On this screen Player 1 sows the bottom row into the right-hand rumah, Player 2 sows the top row into the left-hand rumah, and Player 1 moves first in a new game.

How to sow

• On your turn, pick up ALL the seeds from any one of your seven houses and sow them counter-clockwise, dropping one seed into each following house, one by one.
• When the sowing passes your own rumah, drop one seed into it too. Your opponent’s rumah is always skipped — no seed is ever sown there.
• Relay sowing: if the last seed falls into a house (on either side) that already holds seeds, scoop up everything in that house — including the seed you just dropped — and keep sowing from there in the same turn.
• Free turn: if the last seed falls exactly into your own rumah, it is banked and you immediately sow again from any of your houses.
• The turn ends when the last seed falls into an empty house: on your own side it triggers a capture; on the opponent’s side it simply dies there ("mati") and stays where it fell.

Capturing

When your last seed lands in an empty house on YOUR side of the board, you capture: that seed, plus every seed in the opponent’s house directly opposite, goes straight into your rumah. Timing a long relay so it dies on your side opposite a full enemy house is the signature congkak move — one capture can swing ten or more seeds. If the last seed lands in an empty house on the OPPONENT’S side, nothing is captured: the seed stays where it fell and your turn is over.

How the game ends

The game ends when the player who must move has no seeds left in any of their seven houses. The other player then adds every seed still sitting on their own side to their rumah, and the fuller rumah wins. This version scores a single round; on a real board the traditional multi-round game continues with the loser "burning" houses they can no longer refill — a fun variant to know when you play offline with family.

Playing the computer (ranked)

In "Congkak vs Computer" you choose who sows first and a difficulty — Easy, Normal or Expert. The computer plans its relays and captures entirely on your device, so it works offline. Beat it to earn ranking points: Easy +10, Normal +30, Expert +100. Sign in and your best results appear on the leaderboard.

Strategy tips

• Count before you sow. A house whose seeds reach exactly your rumah earns a free turn — chain several free turns in a row to pull far ahead.
• Watch the empty houses on your side: any sowing that ends in one captures the enemy house opposite. Groom a fat enemy house by keeping its mirror empty.
• Deny captures. When an enemy sowing could end opposite one of your full houses, either empty the threatened house or drop a seed into the enemy’s landing spot first.
• Long relays are powerful early but risky late — they can die (mati) deep in enemy territory. Near the end, prefer short moves you have counted exactly.

Frequently asked questions