Mancala

Price: Free
Publisher: Xoise Solutions

Mancala is a classic game dating back to Ancient Egyptian times. It can be played with a handful of stones and a few pits in the ground but is generally put together with nicely polished pebbles and a polished wooden board. This Android version gives a good representation of Mancala, and the computer is a pretty good opponent, not easy to beat. There are both one and two player variants within the same app, so it can be played socially or alone.

This is a nice app for any course that looks at Ancient Egypt. We Social Studies teachers have a tendency to talk about kings, battles and monuments when discussing history, but this simple yet challenging game is an intriguing look at how average people lived way back then.