

A jumping move is blocked (not permitted) if a rat of either color currently occupies any of the intervening water squares.Īnimals capture opponent pieces by "killing/eating" them (the attacking piece replaces the captured piece on its square the captured piece is removed from the game).

If that square contains an enemy piece of equal or lower rank, the lion or tiger capture it as part of their jump.They jump from a square on one edge of the river to the next non-water square on the other side. The lion can also jump over a river horizontally. The lion and tiger can jump over a river vertically.The rat is the only animal that may go onto a water square.There are special rules related to the water squares: Animals of either side can move into and out of any trap square. All pieces can move one square horizontally or vertically (not diagonally). Players alternate moves with Blue moving first. Pieces start on squares with pictures corresponding to their animal, which are invariably shown on the Jungle board. The animal ranking, from strongest to weakest, is: There are single columns of ordinary land squares on the edges of the board, and down the middle between the rivers.Ī typical Jungle board labelling the starting squares, the den, the traps, and the riversĮach player has eight game pieces representing different animals, each with a different rank, and in their own colour (blue versus red). 'river') are located in the centre of the board, each comprising 6 squares in a 2×3 rectangle, and labeled with the Chinese characters for "river". Two water areas or rivers ( Chinese: 小河 pinyin: xiǎohé lit.' snare') border each den, to each side and in front. Three traps ( Chinese: 陷阱 pinyin: xiànjǐng lit.'lair') square located in the centre of their first row of the board and labeled as such in Chinese. Each player has one den ( Chinese: 獸穴 pinyin: shòuxuè lit.There are several special squares and areas of the Jungle board: After initial setup, these designated squares have no special meaning in the gameplay. Pictures of eight animals and their names appear on each side of the board to indicate initial placement of the game pieces.

Pieces move on the squares as in chess, not on the grid lines as in xiangqi. The Jungle gameboard, usually made of paper, consists of seven columns and nine rows of squares (7×9 rectangle = 63 squares). An alternative way to win is to capture all the opponent's pieces. The player who is first to maneuver any one of their pieces into the opponent's den wins the game. Stronger-ranked animals can capture ("eat") animals of weaker or equal rank. Each player controls eight game pieces representing different animals of various rank. The Jungle gameboard represents a jungle terrain with dens, traps "set" around dens, and rivers. The game is also known as The Jungle Game, Children's Chess, Oriental Chess and Animal Chess. Jungle is a two-player strategy game and has been cited by The Playboy Winner's Guide to Board Games as resembling the Western game Stratego. The game is played on a 7×9 board and is popular with children in the Far East. A British version known as "Jungle King" was sold in the 1960s by the John Waddington company. 'fighting animal game') is a modern Chinese board game with an obscure history. Jungle or Dou Shou Qi ( simplified Chinese: 斗兽棋 traditional Chinese: 鬥獸棋 pinyin: dòu shòu qí lit. A typical and inexpensive Jungle set with paper board, purchased at a Chinese stationery shop
