Dou Shou Qi
Or Shou Qi, is an old Chinese strategy game for 2 players, known in the Western World as Battle of the Animals, The Jungle Game or just Jungle.
In this version, I have used scanned pictures of animals from various books, plus some graphics from the PC game, Heroes of Might & Magic III.
 Board |
 Pieces |
Assembly instructions
Print the play pieces with a little more than half the width of the board (55 to 60%). They can be cut out outside or inside the border, as you prefer. They turn out even better if you paste them on a set of Checkers, instead of cardboard paper.
Rules
The board is made of 7 columns and 9 rows. On each end there is a den, surrounded by 3 traps. Two areas of 2 x 3 squares in the center are lakes. Each player controls 8 pieces representing animals and place them on his side of the board, over their respective pictures.
Each piece has a value, as follows:
| Elephant | 8 |
| Lion | 7 |
| Tiger | 6 |
| Leopard | 5 |
| Wolf | 4 |
| Dog | 3 |
| Cat | 2 |
| Rat | 1 |
On his turn, the player moves one of his/her pieces, just one square, in any direction, vertically or horizontally, but not diagonally. There can't be more than one animal on the same square. Only the rat may enter the lakes. No animal may enter its own den.
Following the value hierarchy, a piece may move onto a square occupied by an opponent's equal or weaker animal, thus removing it from the game. The exception is the rat, which defeats the elephant by entering through its ear and driving it mad. The rat may not attack the elephant when leaving the lake at the same time, but may attack another rat that way. (There is controversy about the elephant also being able to attack the rat, but it's preferable to play by the rule where the rat always wins, as this increases its importance and makes the game more interesting.)
The lion and the tiger may leap from a square adjacent to a lake right to the opposite side, in a straight line, as long as there is neither rat on the squares jumped over. They may even attack in this move, by falling right over the prey.
Any animal in a trap next to the opponent's den is totally vulnerable and may be attacked by any piece. Animals in traps next to their own den are treated normally.
Whichever player reaches the opponent's den is the winner.
