Shogi4

A shogi variant intended to introduce classic board games to young children. It has been released under public domain and made available as a print and play game. Each player start the game with 5 animals: a carp (pawn), a tapir, a raccoon-dog (bishop), a fox (rook) and either a crane or a pheasant (king). Each piece move one square towards any direction shown on the piece, but may jump over allied pieces, which makes the game quicker and more dynamic. A captured piece is invited to the captor's farm, from where it can be summoned to play for the captor's team. All pieces, save the kings, will evolve (promote) upon reaching the last row, becoming creatures from japanese folklore (koi, baku, tanuki and kitsune, respectively), and adding more movement options. It is a cute and colorful game, easy enough for seven yers old to play but still challenging for adult players.