Temple Island Chess is a solo game played with a chess set on a 12x12 chessboard marked with a central island, an ocean, and four outer islands. A single 6-sided die is also used. The white pawns are the Pilgrims. The white non-pawn pieces are called the Guardians. The black pieces are the Shadows. The goal is to get all the Pilgrims from the outer islands to gates of the temple on the central island. Each time the player moves a Pilgrim or a Guardian, a corresponding Shadow piece of a matching type moves according to a die roll. The Pilgrims must avoid touching the Shadows on their pilgrimage. A Pilgrim must be accompanied by a Guardian to travel across the ocean. —description from the designer