Katro is a traditional mancala game played by the Betsileo people in the Fianarantsoa Province of Madagascar. First documented by Alex de Voogt in 1998, it is a four-row mancala variant played on a 6x6 board. The board is typically dug into the earth, and the game draws spectators in community settings. Players sow seeds across their own three rows, trying to capture opponent seeds and leave the opponent without moves.
Components
1 board with 36 pits arranged in a 6x6 grid (6 columns, 6 rows)
72 seeds (small stones or tokens)
Setup
Each player controls 3 rows of 6 pits (18 pits total per player).
Place 2 seeds in each of the 36 pits (72 seeds total).
Players sit on opposite sides of the board.
Turn Structure
Players alternate turns. On your turn, pick up all seeds from one of your pits and sow them.
Actions
Sowing
Choose a pit from your outermost non-empty row (the row closest to the opponent that still contains seeds).
Pick up all seeds from that pit.
Drop seeds one at a time into consecutive pits, moving in a set direction.
Sowing is confined to your own three rows – seeds never enter the opponent’s side.
Relay Sowing
If the last seed lands in a non-empty pit, pick up all seeds from that pit (including the one just dropped) and continue sowing in the same direction.
Continue this relay until the last seed lands in an empty pit.
Capture
Captures occur according to the specific mancala-IV (four-row) conventions of the game, where seeds from the opponent’s corresponding pits may be taken when landing conditions are met.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
The first player who has no seeds remaining on their side of the board loses the game.
Alternatively, a player who cannot make a legal move on their turn loses.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
The requirement to sow from the outermost non-empty row is a key strategic constraint – it limits which pits can be selected each turn.
Sowing direction is fixed (typically counter-clockwise within the player’s own rows).
Relay sowing can create long chain reactions, moving many seeds across the board in a single turn.
As a four-row mancala, the interaction between the two inner rows (closest to the center) is crucial for captures.