How to play Animal Chess
Animal Chess is a two-player strategy game from China. Each player commands eight animals of different strength and tries to walk one of them into the opponent's den. It is easy to learn in a few minutes, yet the rivers and traps make every game a small puzzle.
The board
The board has 7 columns and 9 rows. In the middle are two rivers, each a block of 2 by 3 water squares, with land running between them and along both edges. Each player has a den in the centre of their back row and three traps around it: one on each side and one in front.
The animals
| Animal | Rank | Special power | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘 | Elephant | 8 | Strongest, but cannot capture the rat |
| 🦁 | Lion | 7 | Jumps across rivers |
| 🐯 | Tiger | 6 | Jumps across rivers |
| 🐆 | Leopard | 5 | |
| 🐺 | Wolf | 4 | |
| 🐶 | Dog | 3 | |
| 🐱 | Cat | 2 | |
| 🐭 | Rat | 1 | Swims; captures the elephant |
Moving and capturing
- On your turn, move one animal one square up, down, left or right. Diagonal moves are not allowed, and you must move.
- You capture by moving onto an enemy animal of the same or lower rank. A lion can take a tiger, but a tiger cannot take a lion.
- The rat beats the elephant, and the elephant cannot capture the rat.
- No animal may enter its own den.
Rivers
- Only the rat can enter the water. A rat in the water cannot be captured by an animal on land, and it cannot capture while climbing into or out of the water. Two rats in the water can fight each other.
- The lion and the tiger can jump straight across a river, sideways or lengthways, landing on the first land square on the other side. They can capture there as normal.
- A rat of either colour sitting in the water on the jump line blocks the jump.
Traps
An animal that steps into one of its opponent's traps drops to rank 0: any defending animal can capture it, and it cannot capture anything until it leaves. Your own traps do not weaken your own animals.
Winning
You win by moving any animal into the enemy den, by capturing all the enemy animals, or when your opponent has no legal move. On this site a game is drawn after 100 moves in a row without a capture.
Tip: tap one of your animals and the board shows every square it can reach. Dots are moves, red rings are captures and a gold star is a winning move into the den.
Animal Chess strategy tips
- Guard your traps. Keep a few mid-rank animals near your den. An attacker standing in your trap is rank 0, so even a cat can take it.
- Protect your rat. Your rat is the only thing your opponent's elephant fears. Lose it and their elephant can roam freely.
- Use the rat to block jumps. A rat in the river stops the enemy lion and tiger from leaping across that river.
- Lions and tigers are your attackers. Their river jumps cover ground fast. Aim them at the side lanes, where the opponent has fewer defenders.
- Trade with care. Equal ranks capture each other, so moving next to an enemy of the same rank lets them strike first.
- Attack with two animals. A single raider is easy to catch near the den. Two attackers on different sides stretch the defence.
- Count the tempo. If your animal is next to the enemy den and they cannot capture it this turn, you win on your next move.
Where Animal Chess comes from
Dou Shou Qi is usually described as a modern Chinese game with an obscure history. The games historian Robert C. Bell received a set from a correspondent in Hong Kong in the 1960s but could not trace its ancestry, and later writers such as David Parlett and David Pritchard note that its origins are unknown; Bell thought it might be a development of xiangqi (Chinese chess). In Britain a version was sold as Jungle King by John Waddington in the 1950s or 1960s. Today it is a favourite first strategy game for children in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Source: Jungle (board game), Wikipedia, citing Parlett (1999) and Pritchard (2007).
Rule variants you may meet
Because Animal Chess spread by word of mouth, rule sets differ. This site follows the common Chinese rules above. Other versions include:
- The elephant may capture the rat (some Western rule books).
- The lion may jump the river only lengthways, not sideways.
- Lion and tiger are equal and can capture each other, or the tiger outranks the lion.
- The leopard can jump the river sideways.
- Traps work against any animal, including your own.
Frequently asked questions
Is Animal Chess the same game as Jungle Chess and Dou Shou Qi?
Yes. Dou Shou Qi (斗兽棋, "fighting animal chess") is the Chinese name. In English it is usually called Jungle, Jungle Chess or Animal Chess, and older British sets were sold as Jungle King.
Can the elephant capture the rat?
Not in the version played here. This site uses the common Chinese rule: the rat takes the elephant and the elephant can never take the rat. Some Western rule books let the elephant take the rat; see the variants above.
Can the lion jump over a rat in the river?
No. If a rat of either colour is in any water square the lion or tiger would cross, the jump is blocked.
What happens in a trap?
An animal standing in one of its opponent's three traps is reduced to rank 0. Any defending animal can capture it, and while it stays there it cannot capture anything itself. It gets its rank back when it steps out.
Who moves first?
Blue moves first. In online games your colour is chosen at random; against the computer you start as Blue and swap colours each time you press Play again.
Can a game end in a draw?
Traditional rules have no draw rule. To stop endless games, this site calls a draw after 100 moves in a row (50 each) without a capture.
How does online play work?
Press Play online and you are paired with a random player. Each move has a 60-second clock. If your opponent disconnects, they have 30 seconds to come back before you win.