Overview

Awithlaknakwe (also known as Stone Warriors or Game of the Stone Warriors) is a traditional strategy board game from the Zuni Native American Indians of the American Southwest. Two players move pieces across a grid board, capturing opponents by surrounding them on two sides, while trying to advance their own pieces to the opposing side to score points.

Components

• 1 Board: 12x12 grid with 6 additional squares extending from each of the four sides (forming a cross-shaped extension on each edge)
• 12 Regular pieces: 6 per player in distinguishing colors
• 2 Priest pieces: 1 per player in a third distinguishing color
• Diagonal lines (“trails”) and orthogonal lines (“canyons”) run through each square

Setup

1. Place the board between the two players.
2. Each player selects 6 pieces of one color and places them on the 6 extension squares on their side of the board.
3. Each player selects 1 priest piece of an additional color. The priest starts off the board.
4. Decide who goes first.

Turn Structure

Players alternate turns. On each turn, a player moves exactly 1 piece.

Actions

Move a Regular Piece

• Move 1 piece to an adjacent empty square in a vertical or horizontal direction (along the canyons).
• Pieces may not move backwards (toward their own starting side). They must move forward or sideways.
• Pieces move 1 square per turn.

Move the Priest of the Bow

• The priest piece can move 1 space onto an empty square in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal direction (along trails or canyons).
• The priest may move in any direction, including backwards.

Capture

• Capture an opponent’s piece by surrounding it on two sides, either horizontally or vertically (custodian capture). The capturing player’s pieces must occupy the two squares immediately on opposite sides of the enemy piece.
• Captured pieces are removed from the board.

Introduce the Priest

• When a player loses their first piece to capture, they immediately add their priest piece to any of their starting extension squares.
• The priest is then available for movement on subsequent turns.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends when one player has moved all their remaining pieces across the board to their opponent’s starting position (the extension squares on the opposite side).

Scoring:

• 1 point for each of your pieces that has reached the opponent’s end of the board.
• 1 point for each opponent piece you have captured.

The player with the most points wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• No backwards movement for regular pieces: Only the priest may move backwards. All other pieces must advance or move sideways.
• Priest enters play only after first capture: The priest is not available until a player loses a piece.
• Priest has enhanced movement: Unlike regular pieces, the priest can move diagonally and backwards.
• Custodian capture only: Pieces are captured by being flanked on two sides (horizontally or vertically), not diagonally.
• Multiple captures: If placing a piece creates multiple custodian captures simultaneously, all captured pieces are removed.
• Historical note: The rules as described by F. H. Cushing and reported by Stewart Culin lack specificity on some points. Various reconstructions of the rules exist, and the scoring/winning conditions described here are based on the most commonly accepted interpretation.

Player Reference

Piece Type	Movement	Direction Restriction
Regular (6 per player)	1 square orthogonal	Forward or sideways only
Priest (1 per player)	1 square any direction	None (can move backwards)

Capture: Surround enemy piece on 2 opposite sides (horizontal or vertical)

Priest enters play: After losing your first piece

Win condition: Most points (pieces across + captures) when one player reaches the opposite side