Quick Start / How to Play
Start here if you want to begin quickly
Objective
In two-player play, earn your own Still Point marker before taking a corner. In three-player play, all three players must first complete a Still Point passage; only then do all six corners open. Control 3 corners to create an Alignment, then move a supported stone directly onto the Still Point while the Alignment remains intact. Extended play uses a 4-corner Alignment.
Setup
The recommended game loads a fixed 12-stone formation for each player. In three-player mode the formations are rotated 120° apart. Advanced players may instead choose Free placement in rings 2-4, never on corners or the Still Point.
Placement phase
With the standard opening, begin immediately with White to move. Three-player turns cycle White → Black → Wood. With Free placement, continue in turn order until every player has placed 12 stones.
Movement phase
After setup, players take turns. On your turn, move one stone to an adjacent hex.
Corners
To enter or capture a corner, you must have two adjacent supporting stones. Stones in corners cannot move. In two-player play, you must first earn your own Still Point marker. In three-player play, no player may enter, claim, capture or recapture any corner until all three players have earned their Still Point markers.
Still Point
A stone may pass through the Still Point only if two other adjacent friendly stones support the entry. Ordinary passages continue immediately to an empty non-corner space and never stop at the centre. The first completed passage earns a permanent Still Point marker. Once aligned, the winning stone instead ends on the Still Point.
Capturing and echo
A capture is completed when a third enemy stone moves in beside a stone already adjacent to two supporting enemy stones. Captured ordinary stones usually move to their Echo Point: the same distance from the Still Point on the directly opposite radial line. Corner and Still Point captures do not echo; the captured piece enters reserve instead. Captured Echo Pieces always lose Echo state and enter their owner's reserve as ordinary pieces.
Echo Pieces
A player receives a red-marked Echo Piece for each of their first two corner-token claims only. It may move normally, jump to an empty Echo Point, or capture an opposing stone occupying its Echo Point. A captured ordinary stone still echoes unless it is captured on a corner or the Still Point, where it enters reserve directly. A captured Echo Piece loses Echo state and enters its owner's reserve as an ordinary piece. A reserve piece may spend a later turn returning to an empty cell from that player's original formation. No playing piece is permanently lost.
Winning
Controlling the selected number of corners creates an Alignment but does not end the game. Win by moving a supported stone directly onto the Still Point while still aligned. Losing a corner breaks the Alignment.
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 is crossed in one immediate supported passage and awards a permanent player marker.
Green markers show legal destinations when move guidance is visible.
A red-marked specialist stone that may jump to its Echo Point and capture an opposing stone there. If captured, it loses Echo state and enters its owner's reserve as an ordinary piece.
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
- 12 ordinary starting stones per player
- 2 red Echo markers per player (4 in two-player play; 6 in three-player play)
- 6 corner tokens
- 1 Still Point marker per player
Each player can earn at most two corner-awarded Echo Pieces.
Objective
This game is currently in active playtesting.
Standard play: align 3 corners, then claim the Still Point with a supported stone (recommended). Extended play uses a 4-corner Alignment.
A player controls a corner by occupying it with one of their stones. In two-player play, that player must first earn a Still Point marker. In three-player play, all six corners remain closed until every player has earned a Still Point marker. Controlling the selected number of corners creates an Alignment; a supported move directly onto the Still Point completes the victory.
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 has 12 ordinary starting stones.
- Standard play begins from the illustrated fixed opening position.
- Free placement remains available as an advanced option.
Placement Phase
The standard opening skips manual placement and begins with 12 stones per player in a balanced, rotationally symmetric formation.
When the advanced free-placement option is selected, 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. During ordinary play it is a transit point. On the winning move, the aligned player places a supported stone directly onto it and the game ends.
Passing through the Still Point
A stone adjacent to the Still Point may enter only when two other adjacent friendly stones support that entry.
During an ordinary passage, the moving stone immediately continues from the Still Point to any empty non-corner space as part of the same move. The destination must be legal and empty before the passage begins.
Still Point marker
The first time a player completes an ordinary Still Point passage, that player takes their permanent Still Point marker. Further passages remain legal but do not award another marker. Once aligned, a supported entry ends on the centre and wins immediately; no exit is chosen.
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
Captured playing pieces are never permanently lost. An ordinary captured stone normally moves to its Echo Point. On a corner or the Still Point it enters reserve instead. A captured Echo Piece loses Echo state and enters its owner's reserve as an ordinary piece; it does not echo from the capture.
The Echo Point
- Draw a line from the Still Point through the captured stone.
- Continue the same distance beyond the centre.
- The destination is that stone's Echo Point: the same distance from the Still Point on the directly opposite radial line.
If the Echo Point is occupied, the existing stone is displaced into its owner's reserve; any Echo state it had is lost.
Special cases
- Corner and Still Point captures suppress the echo and send the captured stone to its owner's reserve.
- A captured Echo Piece loses Echo state and enters its owner's reserve as an ordinary piece, with no echo from that capture.
- An ordinary stone captured by an Echo Piece still moves to its own Echo Point.
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.
- Two-player: before earning a Still Point marker, that player may not enter, claim, capture or recapture any corner.
- Three-player: all six corners remain closed to everyone until White, Black and Wood have each earned a Still Point marker.
- As soon as the final player qualifies, all six corners open immediately and use the normal two-support rules.
Corner tokens
Corner-token rewards:
- The first claim of any token-bearing corner gains 10 points.
- Each player places a red-marked Echo Piece after their first and second token claims only.
- A third or later token claim gives no additional Echo Piece.
Echo Piece placement rules:
- It must follow normal placement rules.
- It does not use a move.
- It belongs to the player who captured the corner; the red marking shows its special type, while its white or black body shows ownership.
- On a later turn it may move normally, jump directly to an empty Echo Point, or capture an opposing stone occupying its Echo Point.
- If it is captured by any opposing piece, it loses Echo state and enters its owner's reserve as an ordinary piece rather than echoing.
Corner takeovers and reclaims give no additional token or Echo Piece reward.
Winning the Game
Controlling the selected number of corners creates an Alignment, but the corner claim itself is not a win.
- The Alignment corner still awards its token, but no Echo Piece is awarded if that player has already received their two corner rewards.
- The opponent then receives a normal turn and may recapture a corner, disrupt the Still Point formation, or create a competing Alignment.
- Losing enough corners immediately breaks the Alignment. Regaining the required number restores it.
- A player wins by moving a supported stone directly onto the Still Point while still controlling the required number of corners. The stone remains there as the final position.
- More than one player may be aligned at the same time; any aligned player can win by making the required final Still Point claim on their turn.
Standard play uses a 3-corner Alignment. Extended play uses a 4-corner Alignment.
Notes / Strategy Hints
The Rule of Two
All key actions require two supporting stones: capturing, entering corners, and beginning a Still Point passage.
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 of an ordinary stone has a consequence elsewhere, including a capture made by an Echo Piece. Strong players watch the relevant Echo Point and avoid strengthening the opponent unintentionally. An Echo Piece captured in return loses its Echo state and enters reserve, so exposing one still spends a limited and irreversible Echo opportunity.
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:
- Scored Play — additional points for captures or positional control
- Expanded Boards — larger “monastic” forms with additional rings
- Further specialist stones — additional stone types beyond the Echo Piece