Konane Unblocked

Konane is an old Hawaiian game with a rule set so lean it barely needs explaining. The board starts completely full. Two stones come out, and from then on the only move in the game is a jump that captures. You never shuffle a stone to a safer square or wait for your opponent to blunder; you jump or you lose. That makes every turn a question of how many jumps you are leaving for yourself versus your rival. This unblocked version from the PaperGames project by Christopher Müller lets you play the computer at three levels or a friend on one device.

From a Full Board to the Last Jump

The opening removal. All 64 squares hold stones in a checkerboard of black and white. Black lifts a single black stone out of a corner or out of the central block of four; the legal choices light up. White answers by taking away a white stone that borders the new hole.

Jumping. Black makes the first real move. A stone leaps over an orthogonally adjacent enemy stone into the empty square behind it, and the enemy stone is taken off. Diagonal jumps don’t exist in Konane.

Chains. When the landing square offers another jump for the same stone, you may carry on, and in this version it may change direction along the way. Or hit Done jumping to end the turn. Stopping early is sometimes the smart play.

The end. Jumps are the only legal moves, so a turn that arrives with no possible jump for any of your stones means instant defeat. A score line keeps count of captured stones for both sides.

Konane controls

To do this	Keyboard	Mouse	Touch
Lift out an opening stone	Arrow keys to reach a highlighted stone, Enter to remove it	Click one of the highlighted stones	Tap one of the highlighted stones
Jump an enemy stone	Arrow keys and Enter to pick the stone, then the landing square	Click your stone, then the empty square beyond an enemy stone	Tap your stone, then the empty square beyond an enemy stone
Finish a multi-jump before it ends	—	Click "Done jumping"	Tap "Done jumping"
Play against the computer	—	Click "vs Computer", pick black or white and a level, then click "New game"	Tap "vs Computer", pick black or white and a level, then tap "New game"
Undo a turn	—	Click "Undo"	Tap "Undo"

Thinking Like a Konane Player

Most new players chase captures. Strong players count moves. Ask yourself after every jump: how many jumps do I still have available, and how many does my opponent have?

• Each jump opens empty squares. Before you jump, check whether those new holes give your opponent fresh jumps you did not have to give.
• Stones on the border are harder to attack, since an enemy can reach them only by running along that side. Keep a few there as a reserve.
• A long chain can be a trap. If the final landing square leaves your stone ready to be jumped back, stop one jump earlier.
• Near the end, when only a handful of possible jumps remain, count them carefully. Whoever makes the final one wins, so a quiet “spare” jump in a corner can decide the game.
• Against Hard, use Undo to replay the moment the game slipped away and try a different branch.

Who Will Like Konane

Konane appeals to people who enjoy puzzles about tempo and parity more than material. Games are short, the rules take a minute, and the strategy keeps getting deeper. It is also a nice introduction to Polynesian games for anyone curious about how board games developed outside Europe and Asia.

If you like capture-only games, Fanorona from Madagascar removes whole lines at once. For another game where running out of moves loses, try Game of the Amazons.