Surakarta (game)

This article is about the abstract strategy board game. For the board game with 16 pieces for each player, see Permainan-Tabal.
Surakarta gameboard and starting setup

Surakarta is an Indonesian abstract strategy board game for two players, named after Surakarta, Central Java. The game features an unusual method of capture which is "possibly unique" and "not known to exist in any other recorded board game".[1][2] Little is known about its history.

The name of the game in Indonesian is permainan, which simply translates as "the game".[3][4] In Java, the game is also called dam-daman. It was first published in France in 1970 as "Surakarta".[4] The game is called "Roundabouts" in Sid Sackson's The Book of Classic Board Games.[5]

  1. ^ Bell (1983), p. 97.
  2. ^ Pritchard (1994), p. 35.
  3. ^ Glonnegger, E. (1988). Das Spielebuch. Ravensburg.
  4. ^ a b Gering (2003), p. 24.
  5. ^ Sackson (1991), p. 12.