Bao is based on a mancala board comprising four rows of eight pits each. Each player owns a half of the board comprising two adjacent rows.
Every player has 32 undifferentiated counters (seeds) and the game starts with two seeds in each hole of the board.
The aim of the game is to sow the seeds in your own half of the board while capturing the seeds in your opponents half of the board.
The game ends when a player is left without seeds in his or her inner row, or when he or she cannot move anymore. In both cases, this player loses the game.