Fanorona
Madagascar's classic strategy board game against a computer rival. Capture a whole line of stones by moving toward it or straight away from it, then chain capture after capture across the board.
Play nowHow to play
Controls
TapDragKeyboard←→↑↓ Space- Tap or drag a glowing stone, then tap a glowing point.
- Moving next to a rival line in the same direction (approach) or straight away from an adjacent rival (withdrawal) removes the whole unbroken line.
- Captures are compulsory.
- After a capture the same stone may keep capturing, but never onto a point it visited this turn or twice in the same direction; tap STOP to end.
- If both captures are possible, tap the line you want.
- Keys: arrows cursor, Space select, Enter stop, H hint.
About the game
Fanorona is the national board game of Madagascar, played for centuries on a grid of lines carved into wood or drawn in the sand. Each side starts with twenty-two stones filling the board except the very centre. Stones move one step along the lines, and the diagonal lines only run through every other point.
Capturing is what makes it special. You never jump. Instead, when you move a stone straight toward a rival stone so that it ends right next to it, that stone and every rival stone directly behind it in the line are removed. Moving straight away from a rival stone works too, pulling the whole line off the board behind you. After a capture the same stone may keep going, and this is where the game is won: a chain can sweep half the board, but it may never land on a point it already visited this turn or move twice in a row in the same direction, so the order of the steps matters. Captures are compulsory, which lets you set traps. Twenty-four levels start on the small five-by-five board, move to mirrored midgames on the big board and end with the full game against a rival that thinks up to three turns ahead.
Free to play in your browser. No download, no sign-up. Best on a computer, or a phone held sideways. Your progress is saved on this device.
