TURNRed
RED8
BLUE8
MOVES0
Your move
You win!
📖 Rules of Jungle Chess (斗獸棋)
Goal. Move one of your pieces into the other side's den (穴), or capture every enemy piece, or leave the other side with no legal move. Red starts at the bottom and moves first.
The pieces (8 each)
A higher number beats a lower number. The number is shown on each piece.
| Rank | Animal | 中文 | Special |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 🐘 Elephant | 象 | Strongest, but a rat can capture it. It cannot capture a rat. |
| 7 | 🦁 Lion | 獅 | Jumps across the river. |
| 6 | 🐯 Tiger | 虎 | Jumps across the river. |
| 5 | 🐆 Leopard | 豹 | |
| 4 | 🐺 Wolf | 狼 | |
| 3 | 🐶 Dog | 狗 | |
| 2 | 🐱 Cat | 貓 | |
| 1 | 🐭 Rat | 鼠 | Weakest, but it swims in the river and captures the elephant. |
Moving
- Each turn move one piece one square up, down, left or right (never diagonally). You must move; you cannot pass.
- You may not move onto a square with one of your own pieces, and you may never enter your own den.
Capturing
- Move onto an enemy piece to capture it. A piece captures an enemy of equal or lower rank.
- Exception: the rat may capture the elephant, and the elephant may not capture the rat.
The river (the two blue lakes)
- Only the rat may enter the water. Other animals cannot step in.
- A rat in the water cannot capture a piece on land, and a piece on land cannot capture a rat in the water. A rat in the water can capture another rat in the water. A rat on land and a rat in the water cannot capture each other.
- A rat in the water cannot capture the elephant. To capture the elephant the rat must be on land.
Jumping (lion and tiger only)
- From the bank, a lion or tiger can jump straight across the river: over the 2 squares of water sideways, or the 3 squares of water lengthwise, landing on the first land square on the other side. It may capture there if the usual rules allow.
- The jump is blocked if any rat (yours or the enemy's) is in the water squares it would jump over.
Traps (阱)
- The three squares around each den are that side's traps. If an enemy piece stands on one of your traps, its rank becomes 0 and any of your pieces can capture it (even your rat can capture an enemy elephant, and your elephant can capture an enemy rat).
- Your own pieces are not weakened on your own traps. A piece that steps off the trap gets its rank back.
Den (穴)
- Moving any piece into the enemy den wins the game at once. Defend your own den by keeping strong pieces near it and by capturing intruders in your traps.
Draw
- If 50 moves each go by with no capture, the game is a draw (this is a house rule so a game cannot go on forever).
How to use this game
- Tap one of your pieces; the squares it can go to are shown (green = move, red = capture, gold with an arc = jump). Tap a square to move.
- Settings let you change the computer's level, which side you play, and how pieces are labelled (animal picture, Chinese character or both).
- Hint shows a good move. Undo takes back your last move (and the computer's reply).
中文規則 (Chinese rules)
目標：把任何一隻棋子走進對方的獸穴就獲勝；吃光對方所有棋子，或令對方無棋可走，也算獲勝。紅方在下方，先行。
棋子大小：象 > 獅 > 虎 > 豹 > 狼 > 狗 > 貓 > 鼠。大的可以吃同級或較小的棋子。鼠可以吃象，象不可以吃鼠。
走法：每回合走一格，上下左右，不可斜走。不可走入自己的獸穴。
河：只有鼠可以下水。水中的鼠不能吃岸上的棋子，岸上的棋子也不能吃水中的鼠；水中的鼠可以吃水中的鼠。鼠在水中不能吃象。
跳河：獅和虎可以從河岸直線跳過河（橫向跳過兩格水，直向跳過三格水），落在對岸，可吃對岸的棋子。如果河中有鼠（不論哪一方）擋住，就不能跳。
陷阱：獸穴旁邊的三格是陷阱。敵方棋子走進你的陷阱，就失去等級（等級變為 0），你的任何棋子都可以吃掉它。
和局：雙方各 50 步內都沒有吃子，判和局。