Since the rules for Baroque were first laid down in 1962, some regional variation has arisen, causing the game to diverge from Ultima.
Center counter symmetry allows either player to decide whether to switch his king and Withdrawer ("queen") around, and then corner counter symmetry requires each player to decide which of his "rooks" will be turned upside down.
For purposes of recording the moves that are played in the game, it is sufficient to employ an algebraic form of notation, as in chess, and write the names of the pieces and the squares they are to be placed in.
If the symmetry resolution phases that are usually found at the start of the game could somehow be put off for later, then one may readily see how similar they are to the castling maneuvers in chess.
They have the practical function of multiplying the number of games that are possible from the initial starting position.
Note that White could not play Kc4-d4, as that would place his own king in check from the black Withdrawer.
Note that the Withdrawer also gives check to the black king by threatening to move away on the d-file.
Some variations of Baroque forbid multi-leaping, if only because it is felt that the game is more playable if the Leaper is less powerful.
By requiring the Leaper to stop its movement immediately after capturing the first piece, that objective is met.
In the version played at Cambridge, the power of an enemy Immobilizer to arrest a friendly piece's movement is defeated when another friendly Immobilizer or Chameleon is brought up to it, effectively cancelling out each other's power to arrest movement.
Some versions of Baroque allow an immobilized piece to commit suicide, i.e. be removed from the board, in lieu of the regular move of that player.
A matching pair of squares are also on the other side of the board, just beyond the black king and queen (d11 and e11).
It is played on a 9×9 board; the arrangement of pieces on White's first rank is: Immobiliser, Long-leaper, Chameleon, Withdrawer, King, Bomb, Resurrector, Pusher, Coordinator.
Players may agree to have extra pieces in a queue, awaiting to enter the board.
[1] The Resurrector (or Swapper or Ankh)[citation needed] moves like a queen for all ordinary purposes, but for swapping actions must move like a king, trading places with any adjacent piece (both friend or foe), never capturing it.
Consistent with the concept of the Resurrector being a piece wholly incapable of killing, it can also step into any adjacent empty square, and leave behind a previously captured piece resurrected by placing it in the square just vacated.
Although, seen in that light, though the Resurrector is like a piece of life, it can be transformed into a 1 square bomb when captured and readmitted to the board - but capable only of death.
If they begin adjacent to a piece (regardless if friendly or foe), they can push or pull it by 1 square.
To put it another way, the outer perimeter of squares can only be entered as a result of a capturing maneuver.
[1] The Rococo Swapper has the unusual property of self-destructing at will, in lieu of moving, provided it is not at the same time immobilized, with the effect of taking one enemy piece alongside it.
[citation needed] What sets Rococo apart from Baroque the most is the way the pawns work; they are called cannonball pawns and move like a king, stepping 1 square in all directions, or leap over any adjacent piece (friend or foe).
[citation needed] The pawn formations unique to the parent game, Baroque, already significantly different from traditional chess, are not seen in Rococo.
Instead, Rococo's cannonball pawns seem to hang away from enemy pieces by two or three squares, rarely coming into contact with each other without advance preparation.