KŌNANE INSTRUCTIONS

Kōnane is a traditional Hawaiian board game of strategy, often called Hawaiian checkers. Dating back to ancient Hawaii, it was historically played by aliʻi (royalty) and commoners alike on stone boards, testing deep tactical foresight.

The Goal: To capture the last piece. The game has no luck or random elements—the last player able to make a valid jump wins.

1. Board Setup

Fill all the spaces on the board with alternating black and white stones in a standard checkerboard pattern.  See below for example. 

Row 1 - black, white, black, white, black, white, black

Row 2 - white, black, white, black, white, black, white

2. Choose Colors

To choose colors, one person hides a black stone behind their back.  Then they present their hands to their opponent.  The opponent guesses which hand the black stone is in.  If they guess correctly, they are black, and they go first. If they are incorrect, the other person is black and they go first.

3. Select your Initial Stone

First Removal: The black player removes a black stone from the exact center of the board.

Second Removal: The white player removes a white stone adjacent (above / below or side / side) to that empty space, leaving two empty spaces in the middle.

4. Gameplay and Capturing

First Move: The black player starts by jumping over a white to capture their piece. Players alternate turns. Every turn requires jumping over your opponent to capture their piece; there are no non-capturing moves.  

The Jump: A player will jump (straight up, down, left, or right—never diagonally) into the empty space immediately beyond their opponent.

Multiple Jumps: A player may continue jumping with the same piece in a single turn as long as valid jumps are available.

5. Winning the Game

The game continues until one player is completely unable to make a move. That player loses, and their opponent wins.