Fanorona Unblocked

Fanorona comes from Madagascar, and its capture rule is unlike anything in chess or checkers. Nobody jumps. Instead, a piece slides one point and either runs into an enemy line or pulls away from one, and the entire line in that direction is wiped off the board. With 44 pieces packed onto 45 points at the start, the opening turns can be explosive. This unblocked version from Christopher Müller’s PaperGames collection lets you play the computer at three levels, as white or black, or take on a friend sitting beside you.

Learning the Board and the Two Captures

The board has 5 rows and 9 columns of points. Every point connects horizontally and vertically to its neighbors, and roughly half of them also carry diagonal lines. White starts, and only the center point is empty at first.

On your turn, slide one piece along a line to an empty neighboring point. Then check two things:

1. Approach. Did your piece stop next to an enemy piece, continuing in the same direction? That enemy piece and every enemy piece lined up directly behind it are captured.
2. Withdrawal. Was your piece touching an enemy piece and did it move straight away from it? Then that line is captured instead.

A single slide can only do one of these. When both are possible, the game shows two buttons so you can choose.

After a capture, the same piece can keep moving and capturing, but each step must go in a new direction and avoid points it already used this turn. Capturing is mandatory whenever it is available. Take every enemy piece, or leave your opponent with no move, to win.

Fanorona controls

To do this	Keyboard	Mouse	Touch
Slide a piece	Arrow keys and Enter to pick the piece, then the target point	Click your piece, then the empty point it should slide to	Tap your piece, then the empty point it should slide to
Pick approach or withdrawal	—	Click "Capture forward (approach)" or "Capture backward (withdrawal)" when both are possible	Tap "Capture forward (approach)" or "Capture backward (withdrawal)"
Stop a chain of captures	—	Click "Done capturing"	Tap "Done capturing"
Open a game against the computer	—	Click "vs Computer", pick white or black and a level, then click "New game"	Tap "vs Computer", pick white or black and a level, then tap "New game"
Undo the last move	—	Click "Undo"	Tap "Undo"

Reading a Fanorona Position

Look down the line, not just at the neighbor. The value of a capture is the length of the enemy row behind the first piece. A slide into a row of five is worth far more than one into a single piece.

Check behind you too. Many beginners see the approach and miss a bigger withdrawal in the opposite direction.

Use compulsory capture against your opponent. Offer one piece where the only legal capture drags their piece into a spot you can punish with a long chain.

Value strong points. Points with diagonals connect in eight directions, so pieces there attack and escape more easily.

Change gears late. When the board empties out, mobility counts more than piece totals. One active piece can beat three stuck ones.

Why Fanorona Is Worth Learning

Fanorona feels chaotic for the first game and clever by the third. Big swings are common, so a game is rarely over until it is over. A counter under the board tracks how many pieces each side has lost, and Undo lets you rewind a disastrous chain and look for the better one.

If you enjoy capture games from around the world, Surakarta from Java and Konane from Hawaii both offer unusual capture rules of their own.