Round & Revel / Shared-board mancala

Seed Circuit

The handful you move becomes everybody else’s next opportunity.

2–4 players, competing; no separate hostEstimated 20–45 minutes; one short heat per player

Original authored print-and-play game. Time is a planning estimate; this edition has not had a live group playtest.

Good for: A hands-on strategy break using a printed board and a handful of counters.

What you need

One copy of all eight numbered station cards
Exactly 24 identical seeds: dried beans, buttons, or small paper squares; nothing edible must be handled or eaten
Two REVERSE markers per player, up to eight, and a score mat per player
One heat-and-lap record and a pencil for scores carried between heats

How to play

The shared circuit

Eight stations form one ring. Everyone may choose any nonempty station, lift all its seeds and sow them one at a time around the ring. You harvest only if your final seed makes the landing station’s count exactly match its printed target. Harvested seeds become your points for that heat. Play one short heat per player, rotating the first seat so everyone experiences every starting position once. The highest combined score wins.

Lay out the ring

Arrange the station cards in this clockwise order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, then back to 1. Use the layout reference if helpful. Put exactly three seeds on every station, twenty-four in total. The station targets in that order are 2, 3, 4, 2, 3, 4, 2 and 3. A starting station that already equals its target is not harvested automatically; only a sowing move’s final landing can trigger a harvest.

Prepare the players

Choose a first player and continue clockwise around the players throughout the first heat. Give everyone two REVERSE markers and an empty score area. Each heat lasts three laps; one lap means everyone takes one turn. A heat therefore gives everyone three turns unless the ring empties sooner. Two players play two heats, three play three, and four play four. Player seating order and station order are separate: agree which way is clockwise on both.

Choose a pile and direction

On your turn, choose one station holding at least one seed. Normally you must sow clockwise. Before touching the pile, you may discard one unused REVERSE marker to sow counterclockwise for this turn instead. Say the source and direction aloud. A spent marker stays out until the next heat begins. You cannot reverse halfway through, spend two markers for an extra move, or use a marker after you see where the last seed lands.

Sow every seed

Lift every seed from the chosen station, leaving it empty. Starting with the next station in the chosen direction, place one seed in each station you encounter. Continue around the ring until your hand is empty. If the handful exceeds eight seeds, make another circuit; include the original station when you reach it again. Do not skip occupied stations or any station number. Score areas are outside the circuit and never receive sown seeds.

Check the final landing only

After the last seed is placed, compare that one station’s new count with its own target. If equal, take every seed from that station into your score area. If not equal, leave them all. There is no partial harvest, chain capture or reward at other stations, even when they now match their targets. You do not harvest based on the size of the handful or the count before the last seed arrived. A harvest ends your turn.

Keep the changed board

Leave all other seeds exactly where they landed. The next player may choose any remaining nonempty pile, including one you just enlarged. Within a heat, your harvested seeds are permanently out of play; you cannot return, trade or spend them. Keep them visible and countable. At every point in a heat, all board seeds plus everyone’s harvested seeds must total twenty-four. REVERSE markers never count as seeds or points.

Score a three-lap heat

After every player has moved once, cross off the current lap and begin the next with the same first player. Stop after the final player’s turn in lap three, or immediately if a harvest empties the board. Each harvested seed earns one heat point; unused markers and seeds still on the board earn zero. Record every heat score in pencil before clearing anything.

Rotate and add the heats

Return all twenty-four seeds to the board, three per station, and restore two REVERSE markers per player. Move the first-player position one seat clockwise from the previous heat’s first player. Start a fresh three-lap heat, leaving earlier scores on paper. After exactly as many heats as players, add each person’s heat scores. Highest total wins; tied leaders share the win. Do not stop the session merely because one heat ended early. Every scheduled starting seat must be used.

Check a sowing mistake

Count the chosen handful aloud if needed. Until the next player begins, reverse a miscounted move using its known source, direction and original handful, return any harvest from that move, and replay it correctly. Do not change the chosen pile or direction. If the earlier state cannot be reconstructed, reset for an unscored practice game. Never add a guessed seed to repair the total. Choosing an empty pile is not a move; choose a nonempty one instead.

Comfort and replay

Use large station sheets and larger counters when small pieces are difficult to handle. A helper may sow a player’s named source and direction. Allow time to count future landings on paper; this is not a speed test. Young children should not use small loose objects without appropriate supervision. For a new session, reset all scores and supplies. Scores from different player counts are not directly comparable, and equal starting-position exposure is not a claim of playtested strategic balance.

A worked example

Suppose two seeds were harvested earlier. The current station counts 1 through 8 are 3, 3, 3, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, totaling twenty-two. You sow station 1’s three seeds clockwise into stations 2, 3 and 4. Station 4 rises from one to two, matching its target of two, so you harvest those two seeds. The board is now 0, 4, 4, 0, 3, 3, 3, 3, totaling twenty. The earlier two seeds plus your new two still bring the full accounting to twenty-four.

If your last seed instead made station 3 hold three seeds, nothing would be harvested: station 3’s target is four. Matching some other station during the same sow does not score.

Printable materials

Print each station once and cut the cards apart; arrange them in the numbered ring. Print two REVERSE markers per player and one score mat per player. Print the layout and heat reference once. Supply twenty-four safe counters or cut twenty-four paper squares.

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