Indonesia · Strategy Game · 2 Players

How to Play Surakarta

Surakarta is an abstract strategy game from Central Java, Indonesia, famous for one unusual idea: its board is ringed by looping arcs at the corners, and a piece captures by sliding along the lines and curling around a loop to strike an enemy from a distance. Quiet moves are simple one-step shuffles; the whole game turns on the looping capture.

The Board

Surakarta is played on a 6×6 grid — 36 intersection points where pieces sit. Around the outside, the lines do not simply stop: at each of the four corners the grid lines curl back on themselves as loop arcs. There are two concentric sets of loops — an inner circuit (touching the second lines in from each edge) and an outer circuit (touching the third lines in). The very outermost lines carry no loop. These loops are the heart of the game.

  row 6   ● ● ● ● ● ●     ● = dark piece (Player B / computer)
  row 5   ● ● ● ● ● ●     ○ = light piece (Player A / you)
  row 4   · · · · · ·
  row 3   · · · · · ·     (loops curl around all four corners,
  row 2   ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○      joining the row lines to the column
  row 1   ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○      lines at two concentric depths)

Setting Up

Each player has 12 pieces.
Light (Player A) fills the bottom two rows (rows 1 and 2); Dark (Player B) fills the top two rows (rows 5 and 6). The two middle rows start empty.
Light moves first. (In this version you play light; the computer plays dark.)

Plain Moves

On an ordinary turn, slide one piece one step to an adjacent empty point. You may move in any of the 8 directions — orthogonally or diagonally. A plain move never captures anything; it just repositions a piece (typically to set up, or escape, a loop attack).

The Loop Capture — the Signature Move

To capture, a piece slides along the grid lines — straight along its row or its column — and travels through at least one corner loop arc before landing on the first piece it meets, which must be an enemy. That enemy is removed and your piece takes its point.

Capture rules — read these carefully:

Lines only, never diagonals. A capturing slide travels along rows and columns and around the loops — it is never a free diagonal.
At least one loop. You can never capture in a straight line without curving through a loop. The path must pass around at least one corner arc.
Clear path. Every point your piece passes over must be empty. You may not jump any piece — friend or foe. The first piece you reach must be the enemy you capture.
Either way around. A piece can launch along its row or its column, and in either direction around the loops — so the same enemy may sometimes be attacked from two sides.
A piece on the outermost edge (the first or last row or column) sits on lines with no loop, so it cannot start a capture — though it can still be captured.
Capturing is optional — you are never forced to take.

How to Win

Capture everything. You win by capturing all 12 of your opponent's pieces.
Stalemate (digital rule). To keep the game decisive, if 50 moves pass with no capture (or a position repeats), the game ends and whoever has more pieces wins. If the piece counts are exactly equal, it is a draw. This mirrors the traditional "more pieces wins a stalled game" agreement.

Strategy Tips

Think around the corner. A piece that looks safe from a straight-line glance may be wide open to a loop attack coming the long way around. Always trace the loops.
Clear paths cut both ways. Emptying the middle of the board opens loop lanes — for you and for your opponent. Keep blockers where they matter.
Use the loops to defend. Parking a friendly piece on an enemy's loop route breaks the clear path and neutralises the threat.
Don't overcommit. Trading down can hand the opponent the open lanes they need — count the resulting threats before you capture.

Cultural History

Surakarta takes its name from the historic court city of Surakarta — also known as Solo — in Central Java, Indonesia. Traditionally the board was scratched into the dirt and played with whatever was at hand: stones and cowrie shells.

We should be honest about the history: Surakarta's precise origin and age are not well documented, and it would be wrong to claim a specific inventor or date. What is recorded is that the game reached the West through a 1970 French publication, after which it was reprinted commercially under the name "Roundabouts."

What has made Surakarta endure among game enthusiasts is its loop-based capture — a piece curving around the corner arcs to strike. This mechanic is widely thought to be unique among traditional board games, and it gives Surakarta a flavour quite unlike the jump-capture and line-capture games found elsewhere.

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