Fanorona Game Rules

Experience the classic Madagascar Fanorona strategic board game. Battle against intelligent AI opponents and learn this ancient and fascinating strategy game.

Game Objective

Eliminate all opponent pieces or leave them unable to move to win. Each player starts with 22 pieces.

Movement Rules

Pieces can only move to adjacent empty positions. Adjacent includes horizontal, vertical, and certain diagonal connections.

Capture Rules

Two capture methods: approach capture and withdrawal capture. After capturing enemy pieces, you can continue moving until no more captures are possible.

Detailed Rule Explanation

1. Board Layout

Fanorona uses a 9×5 board (9 columns, 5 rows) with special diagonal connections. The lines on the board show the paths pieces can move, including horizontal, vertical, and certain diagonal directions.

2. Initial Setup

Human player (orange pieces) starts from the bottom, AI player (gray pieces) from the top. The center position of the middle row is empty.

3. Movement Mechanism

Players take turns moving one piece to an adjacent empty position
Adjacent positions include horizontal, vertical, and diagonal connections (if they exist)
Cannot jump over other pieces

4. Capture Rules

Approach Capture:

After moving, if there's a continuous line of enemy pieces in the direction of movement (adjacent and consecutive), these pieces are captured.

Withdrawal Capture:

After moving, if there's a continuous line of enemy pieces in the opposite direction from the original position (adjacent and consecutive), these pieces are captured.

⚠️ Exclusive Capture Rule (Important):

When a single move can simultaneously perform both approach and withdrawal captures, the player must choose only one capture type and cannot execute both. Click on the green circle at the target position to select the specific capture direction.

🔥 Continuous Capture Rules (Important):

When a move captures enemy pieces, the player must immediately continue moving with the same piece
Continuous moves can only be capturing moves, not non-capturing moves
Must use the piece that just moved, cannot use other pieces
Cannot revisit positions already visited in this turn
The turn only ends when no more capturing moves are possible
The game automatically highlights available continuation positions

5. Victory Conditions

Eliminate all opponent pieces
Leave opponent unable to make any legal moves

6. Strategy Tips

Try to create capture opportunities, each move can potentially execute both approach and withdrawal captures
Plan continuous capture routes, capturing multiple enemy pieces in one turn can dramatically change the game situation
Control the central area to gain more movement options and continuous capture opportunities
Avoid letting your pieces form long chains or dense formations that can be easily captured consecutively
Watch for opponent's continuous capture threats, disperse pieces timely to avoid heavy losses
In continuous capture mode, consider each step carefully, as the route must be completed once started
Observe AI's strategy and predict its next moves, especially watch for its continuous capture preparations

About Fanorona - Traditional Wisdom of Madagascar

🏝️ Historical Origin

Fanorona originates from Madagascar island, is the most popular traditional strategy game on the island, with hundreds of years of history, deeply rooted in Malagasy culture.

🎮 Modern Popularity

Gained renewed attention in the global gaming community through the Assassin's Creed series, becoming a new favorite among strategy game enthusiasts.

Fanorona Cultural Background & Fun Facts

🌴 Madagascar's National Game

In Madagascar, Fanorona is not just a game, but an important carrier of cultural heritage. From villages to cities, from elderly to children, this game transcends generations and social classes, becoming part of Malagasy daily life. Traditionally, people would carve lines on wooden boards and use stones or beans as pieces to play.

🏛️ Royal and Noble Intellectual Competition

Historical records show that Fanorona was beloved by Madagascar's royalty and noble classes as an intellectual competition. It's said that some important political decisions were even influenced by the results of Fanorona matches, reflecting this game's prestigious status in Malagasy society.

⚔️ Fanorona in Assassin's Creed Series

Assassin's Creed III (2012):

First introduced Fanorona to the gaming world as a tavern mini-game. Players could battle NPCs in colonial American taverns, experiencing this strategy game from distant Madagascar.

Assassin's Creed: Rogue (2014):

Continued to feature Fanorona as shipboard entertainment, allowing players to enjoy this challenging strategic battle during breaks from maritime exploration.

Gaming Impact:

Through the Assassin's Creed series, millions of players worldwide first encountered this traditional Malagasy game, transforming Fanorona from a regional traditional game into an internationally known strategy game.

🧠 Strategic Depth and Educational Value

Modern research has found that Fanorona possesses extremely high strategic depth. Its complex continuous capture rules and diverse tactical possibilities make it an excellent tool for training logical thinking and forward planning abilities. Many mathematicians and game theory scholars have conducted in-depth research on it.

🌍 Global Revival

With the advent of the internet age, Fanorona is experiencing a global revival. Strategy game enthusiasts from around the world gather through online platforms, sharing tactical insights and organizing online tournaments, allowing this ancient Malagasy wisdom to shine anew in the digital age.