Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
???????? - Let's Catch the Lion!
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
???????? - Let's Catch the Lion! (a.k.a. D?butsu Sh?gi, which means "animal shogi") is a simple version of Shogi. Both players have only four pieces – chick, giraffe, elephant and lion – and they're trying to either catch the opponent's lion or move their own lion to the other side. The board is just 3×4 squares, so the game is rather short, aimed mostly at getting children interested in Shogi – but even if you're an adult, the game is enjoyable. As for how to play: The giraffe moves like a rook, but moves only one space. The elephant moves like a bishop, but moves only one space. (Interestingly, in Xiangqi and Tamerlane Chess, the elephant moves precisely two spaces diagonally.) The chick is directly analogous to the pawn/soldier of Shogi, and is promoted to a full-grown chicken, equivalent to the gold general in Shogi. The lion is analogous to a king, except that he can win essentially by promoting, as long as it doesn't leave him in check. Even on this 3×4 board, you are still able to drop in pieces that you captured from your opponent! Unlike in Shogi, you can drop a chick for mate or have two chicks in a column.