Surakarta is a two-player strategy board game from the island of Java in Indonesia, played on a board of concentric loop tracks at each corner, in which pieces capture opposing pieces by moving along a connecting loop track to approach them from behind, a distinctive circular capture mechanic not found in most other traditional board games. The game takes its name from the city of Surakarta in Central Java, and it is regarded as a distinctively Javanese contribution to the broader family of capturing board games played across South and Southeast Asia.
Facts
Partially Attested
Origin YearThe source gives 1970 as the year the game was first published in France under the name Surakarta; the game itself is traditionally Indonesian and older, so this dates its publication under that name, not its original invention. Sport
Game Type (category) Game Type (category) Classification
Player Count Originating Region Game TypeAbstract strategy board game 1 In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Asia, found in there.
Sources
1. Surakarta (game) (Wikipedia)
Opening sentence, origin
Surakarta is an Indonesian abstract strategy board game for two players, named after Surakarta, Central Java.
Opening sentence, classification
Surakarta is an Indonesian abstract strategy board game for two players
Lead section, first publication
It was first published in France in 1970 as "Surakarta".
Lead section, Javanese name
In Java, the game is also called dam-daman.
Capturing move section
A capturing move consists of traversing along an inner or outer circuit (coloured blue and green in the diagram, but red and blue in the photo) around at least one of the eight corner loops of the board, followed by landing on an enemy piece, capturing it.
Rules section, object of the game
The object of the game is to capture all 12 of the opponent's pieces; or, if no further captures are possible, to have more pieces remaining in play than the opponent.
Lead section, state of knowledge about history
Little is known about its history.
entity record, description lead (player-count)
Surakarta is a two-player strategy board game from the island of Java in Indonesia, played on a board of concentric loop tracks at each corner, in which pieces capture opposing pieces by moving along a connecting loop track to approach them from behind, a distinctive circular capture mechanic not found in most other traditional board games. The game takes its name from the city of Suraka
View the SourceWikidata: Surakarta
Wikidata Q601529, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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