Prepare your army!

In this Chinese game, two opponents will lead armies to try and capture each other's flag. The armies are made of troops of 9 different orders plus bombs and mines, and may seek refuge in camps, becoming invulnerable, or even use railroads to move swiftly across the board. Pieces are kept hidden from the opponent, so that memory and deduction become essencial to a winning strategy.

A very fun game for 2-3 players, with an approximate duration of 20 minutes.

History

Luzhanqi, which can be translated as "Land Battle Chess", is a Chinese game of unclear origins. Although it has been related that Chinese children have been playing it for about a century, there is not much literature on its history.

It is believed to be related to the game Doushouqi, also known as "The Jungle Game", and that it is ultimately descended from the Indian Chaturanga.

Among the most traditional aspects of Luzhanqi we find the barriers in the middle of the board (which are usually 'rivers', but in this game are called 'mountains') and the hierarchy of the pieces, which results in some pieces not being able to capture others.

On the other hand, Luzhanqi includes, a modern military hierarchy, the use of bombs, land mines and railroads. These elements (along with the absence of newer military resources, such as tanks and airplanes) indicate the game has attained its present form somewhere in the late 19th century or in the beginning of the 20th.

Although the game is scarcely known in the West, a few very similar comercial games have been available in the American and European markets for many decades.

Please note that traditional Luzhanqi's pieces only show military ranks (written in idiograms). To illustrate it with animals has been an aesthetical decision by Oca. We did so for two reason: to make the game more appealing to children and to emphasize the close relation this game has to Doushouqi, the Jungle Game.