Dobutsu

Dobutsu Shogi was created by Madoka Kitao, a women’s professional shogi player, to introduce children and beginners to the game. Illustrations were done by fellow women's professional shogi player Maiko Fujita.
More information can be found at nekomado.com.

Gameplay

The game is played on a 3×4 board (three files, four ranks). Like in standard shogi, players alternate making either a move or a drop. Captured pieces move into your hand.

Pieces may be dropped anywhere - there are no restrictions. You may drop two pawns on the same file (nifu) or drop a pawn on the last rank, where it cannot move.

Pieces

All pieces are limited in their movements to one square around them.

• Lion - one square in any direction (like a king)
• Giraffe – one square orthogonally (like a rook, but limited to one square)
• Elephant – one square diagonally (like a bishop, but limited to one square)
• Chick - one square forward (like a pawn)
• Hen - one square in any direction except the two backward diagonals (like a tokin)

Promotions

When a Chick (pawn) reaches the farthest rank, it promotes to a Hen (tokin). If captured, it reverts to a Chick (pawn) in hand. No other pieces promote.

Game end

You win by:

• Capturing the opponent’s Lion, or
• Moving your own Lion into the opponent’s back rank (and it cannot be captured on the next move).

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