Dōbutsu shōgi

[1] It is played on a 3×4 board and generally follows the rules of standard shogi, including drops, except that pieces can only move one square at a time, and the king reaching the enemy camp as an additional way to win the game.

If the Chick advances two squares to reach the final rank (the "sky" for the player that started in the forest), it promotes to a Hen (tokin), which can move one square any way except diagonally backwards (like the gold general in shogi).

A chick dropped on the final rank, however, does not promote (and may make no further moves until it is recaptured).

The variant of nana shogi[clarification needed] shows that it is feasible to have a limited number of long-ranged pieces on such small-sized boards.

On each player's side, it uses 3 chicks (pawns), 2 cats (silvers), 2 dogs (golds), and 1 lion (king).

A 9×9 version of this game known as "Dobutsu shogi in the Greenwood" (in Japanese: おおきな森のどうぶつしょうぎ ōkina mori no dōbutsu shōgi, lit.

The game features new pieces and since the board is large, the movements of the Elephant and Giraffe (bishop and rook in shogi) are unlimited.