Surakarta Unblocked

Surakarta has the strangest capture rule of any board game on FreezeNova. Stones do not take pieces by moving next to them or jumping over them. Instead, a stone must travel along one of the board’s long lines, swing around a curved track at a corner and come back in from another direction to strike. That means the real danger often comes from the side of the board you were not watching. The game takes its name from a city in central Java, and this unblocked edition, part of the PaperGames set by Christopher Müller, keeps the rules lean.

The Board and a Turn

The playing area is a 6x6 grid of points. Each corner has a curved arc that links one inner row to one inner column, forming loop tracks around the edges. Both sides fill the two rows closest to them with 12 stones. Black opens.

On your turn, choose one of two actions:

1. Step. Move a single stone to any free adjacent point, including diagonals. Steps never capture.
2. Loop slide. Push a stone along one of the four inner loop lines. When it runs out of board, the corner arc bends it onto the connected line and the journey continues. After at least one trip through an arc, the slide ends on the first opposing stone in its way, which is removed.

In this version, stones in the path are skipped over rather than blocking the slide. When you select a stone, the board lights up every capture it can make, which helps a lot while you learn the tracks.

Captures are optional. You win by removing every enemy stone or by leaving your opponent with no legal move. A counter tracks stones taken by each side.

Surakarta controls

To do this	Keyboard	Mouse	Touch
Step one stone	Arrow keys and Enter to pick the stone, then the empty point	Click your stone, then an empty neighboring point	Tap your stone, then an empty neighboring point
Capture by riding a loop	—	Click your stone, then the highlighted enemy stone it can reach	Tap your stone, then the highlighted enemy stone it can reach
Start a match with 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 move	—	Click "Undo"	Tap "Undo"

Thinking Around Corners

Know which lines are live. Just four lines touch the arcs: the inner rows and columns one step in from each edge. A stone on any of those four lines may be hit from around a corner. A stone off them is safe from captures.

Retreat to quiet lines. If one of your stones is threatened, stepping it onto a row or column that no arc touches removes the danger.

Look before stepping onto a loop line. A harmless-looking step can line a stone up for an enemy slide. Check the threats from every arc before you commit.

Strike first in a standoff. When both players have captures available, moving first often wins the trade outright.

Practice with Undo. Rewinding and replaying the same position is the quickest way to train your eye on how the arcs connect.

Who Will Enjoy It

Surakarta suits players who like a fresh puzzle: the rules are short, but the geometry takes a few games to see. Three AI strengths and automatic saving of an unfinished match make practice painless. For another traditional game from Asia, try Bagh-Chal, or explore other unusual rule sets in card and board games.