Quick Start / How to Play
Start here if you want to begin quickly
Objective
Control four corners of the board before your opponent. A player controls a corner by occupying it with one of their stones.
Setup
Each player takes 15 stones. Players take turns placing 12 stones on the board. Stones may only be placed in rings 2–4, never on corners and never on the Still Point.
Placement phase
Take turns placing one stone at a time in the legal opening area until both players have placed 12 stones.
Movement phase
After setup, players take turns. On your turn, move one stone to an adjacent hex.
Corners
To enter a corner, you must have two adjacent supporting stones. Stones in corners cannot move. They may still be captured using the normal support rule.
Still Point
A stone may enter the Still Point only if it has two adjacent friendly stones. A stone on the Still Point may move to any empty non-corner space, but not until its next turn.
Capturing and echo
A capture is completed when a third enemy stone moves in beside a stone already adjacent to two supporting enemy stones. Most captured stones echo to the matching point across the Still Point instead of being removed immediately.
Winning
The game ends immediately when a player controls four corners. If using optional scoring instead, each corner token is worth 10 points and the higher score wins.
Board legend
The marked outer cells are the six corners.
A visible ring means that corner still has its first-capture token available.
The centre space has unique entry and exit rules.
Green markers show legal destinations when move guidance is visible.
What is Akunur?
In the quiet domains of Elisum, the Aesthetes studied pattern, balance, and consequence. They believed every action creates a reflection — not always where it is expected, but always where it matters.
Akunur is their game of echo, patience, and structure: a contest where control is built through support, timing, and the consequences of every move.
Components
- 1 hexagonal board with 6 corner positions and 1 central Still Point
- 15 stones per player
- 6 corner tokens
In the standard setup, each player places 12 stones during setup. The remaining stones are used later when corner tokens are claimed.
Objective
Control four corners of the board before your opponent.
A player controls a corner by occupying it with one of their stones.
Setup
The board is arranged in hexagonal rings around the Still Point.
- The outermost positions include six corners.
- The centre is the Still Point, a place of unique movement.
- Each player takes 15 stones.
- Players take turns placing stones on the board.
Placement Phase
During setup, stones may only be placed in rings 2–4.
- Stones may not be placed on corners.
- Stones may not be placed on the Still Point.
- Each player places 12 stones before movement begins.
Movement Phase
After placement, the game enters the movement phase.
Players then take turns moving one stone to an adjacent hex.
Still Point
The Still Point is a place of balance and sudden change.
Entering the Still Point
A stone may only enter if it has 2 adjacent friendly stones.
Moving from the Still Point
A stone on the Still Point may move to any empty non-corner space.
Important: a stone that moves onto the Still Point cannot move again until its next turn.
Capturing and Echo
Capture
A stone is captured when it is adjacent to two supporting enemy stones and a third enemy stone moves to complete the capture.
What happens next
Most captured stones are not removed immediately. Instead, they are moved to their echo position.
The Echo Rule
- Draw a line from the Still Point through the captured stone.
- Continue the same distance beyond the centre.
- The destination is the echo position.
If the echo space is occupied, the existing stone is removed from the board.
Special cases
- Corner captures remove the captured stone with no echo.
- Still Point captures remove the captured stone with no echo.
Corner Capture and Tokens
Entering a corner
To enter a corner, you must have 2 adjacent supporting stones.
Corner behaviour
- Stones in corners cannot move.
- They may be captured using the normal support rule.
Corner tokens
The first time a corner is captured:
- Gain 10 points.
- Place one additional stone on the board.
Bonus placement rules:
- It must follow normal placement rules.
- It does not use a move.
Recaptures give no additional reward.
Winning the Game
The game ends immediately when a player controls four corners.
Optional scoring
If no player controls four corners, each token is worth 10 points and the highest score wins.
Notes / Strategy Hints
The Rule of Two
All key actions require two supporting stones: capturing, entering corners, and entering the Still Point.
Triangles
Strong play relies on triangular supports. These help create stable captures, defensive holds, and corner entry.
Flow and corridors
Stones often move in streams across the board, reinforcing attacks and maintaining support structures.
Echo awareness
Every capture has a consequence elsewhere. Strong players watch where stones will reappear and avoid strengthening the opponent unintentionally.
Not part of the standard rules
Future Variants
Akunur is described in the rules document as a living system. The following ideas are future forms only and are not part of standard play in this build:
- Echo Exchange — a limited ability to swap with an opponent at the echo position
- Scored Play — additional points for captures or positional control
- Expanded Boards — larger “monastic” forms with additional rings
- Specialist Stones — different stone types with unique movement or capture abilities