Fanorona
The board game of Madagascar: capture whole lines by approach or withdrawal, and chain capture after capture.
Fanorona is the board game of Madagascar, played on a board of nine by five points joined by lines. Each side starts with 22 pieces, filling every point but the centre. A piece takes by moving towards an enemy piece or away from one, and the whole unbroken line of enemy pieces behind it leaves the board. Captures are compulsory, and the capturing piece may go on capturing in a new direction, chaining step after step. Take every enemy piece to win. Play an easy, medium or hard computer, and every day brings a Daily game that is the same for everyone.
- Category
- Cards & Board
- Modes
- Easy · Medium · Hard · Daily
- Controls
- Mouse · Touch · Keyboard
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How to play
You play White and move first. On each turn one piece steps along a line to the next empty point; diagonal lines run only through every second point. A step captures by approach when it ends next to an enemy piece on the same line, just beyond the point it reaches, or by withdrawal when it leaves an enemy piece directly behind the point it started from. The enemy piece is taken together with every enemy piece in an unbroken row behind it along that line. If a step could capture both ways you pick one, and the board shows the two lines to choose from. Capturing is compulsory: while any of your pieces can capture, you cannot make a plain step. After a capture the same piece may capture again, but never in the same direction twice in a row and never back to a point it has already stood on in this turn; you may stop whenever you like. You win by taking every enemy piece, or when the computer is left with no move. The third repetition of a position, or 40 turns in a row without a capture, is a draw. A win scores 100 plus two points for each of your pieces still on the board, a draw 50, and a loss one point for each piece you took.
What is Fanorona?
Fanorona is the board game of Madagascar, and it is still widely played across the island. It is a relative of alquerque, the old game of points and lines, but its captures are its own: a piece takes by stepping towards an enemy or by stepping away from one, and a whole line of enemy pieces leaves the board at once. The full game is fanoron-tsivy, on nine by five points ("sivy" means nine in Malagasy); children learn on the smaller fanoron-telo and fanoron-dimy boards of three and five.
Here you play the full board against the computer, as White, moving first: an easy, medium or hard computer, and a Daily game that is the same for everyone.
How to play
- The board. Forty-five points joined by lines along the rows and columns. Every second point, the corners and the centre among them, also has diagonal lines.
- The start. Each side has 22 pieces, filling every point except the centre. White moves first.
- Moving. On your turn one piece steps along a line to the next point, which must be empty.
- Capture by approach. If your step ends right next to an enemy piece on the same line, just beyond the point you reached, that piece is taken.
- Capture by withdrawal. If your step moves away from an enemy piece standing directly behind your starting point on the same line, that piece is taken.
- Whole lines. The captured piece takes with it every enemy piece in an unbroken row behind it along that line, up to the first empty point or piece of yours.
- Both ways at once. Some steps could capture by approach and by withdrawal. You take only one line: the board shows both, one in orange and one in blue, and you tap the one you want.
- Capturing is compulsory. While any of your pieces can capture, you must capture. The pieces that can are ringed. A plain step, called a paika, is allowed only when no capture exists.
- Chains. After a capture the same piece may capture again, and again, but never in the same direction twice in a row and never back to a point it has already stood on in this turn. You may stop after any capture with the Stop button.
- The end. You win by taking every enemy piece, or when the computer has no move left. The third repetition of a position, or 40 turns in a row without a capture, is a draw.
- Score. A win scores 100 plus two points for each of your pieces still on the board. A draw scores 50, and a loss one point for each piece you took.
Strategy tips
- Count the answer before you take. The longest chain is not always the best. Look at where your piece ends: if it lands next to an open point, the computer may take back a whole line.
- Stop on purpose. Since going on is optional, ending a chain one capture early can leave your piece safe instead of exposed.
- Use the strong points. Points with diagonals give a piece eight lines instead of four, for attack and for escape.
- Mind the gaps. A row of enemy pieces with an empty point beside it is a capture waiting to happen, for whoever moves first. Avoid leaving your own pieces lined up that way.
- In the endgame, close in together. With few pieces left, a lone piece is hard to catch. Advance in pairs so that every escape step lands next to one of yours.
FAQ
Is Fanorona free to play?
Yes. Like every game on Play, it runs free in your browser, with no download and no account needed.
Where does Fanorona come from?
From Madagascar, where it is still widely played. A well-known legend tells of King Ralambo, who pretended to be ill and called his sons home to choose his heir: the first to arrive would rule. The elder son was caught in a difficult position in a game of fanorona and came late, so his younger brother Andrianjaka became king.
What happens when a step captures both ways?
You choose. The rules allow only one capture per step, so the board shows both lines and you tap the line you want to take. Every other step takes the only line it can.
Do I have to keep capturing?
No. The first capture of your turn is compulsory whenever one exists, but after it each further capture is your choice. Tap Stop to end your turn.
Is the game fair to both sides?
Yes. In 2007 researchers at Maastricht University solved Fanorona by computer and showed that with perfect play from both sides the game is a draw.
What is the Daily game?
Every day everyone plays the medium computer, and the computer answers the same moves the same way for everyone that day, so the scores compare directly on the leaderboard.
