EuroShogi

EuroShogi is a different take on the traditional and popular game of Shogi, also known as Japanese Chess. With EuroShogi you will be able to play the game using a mixture of rules from Shogi and classic chess.

If you haven’t played Shogi before, then you should start off by reading the rules from somewhere online and preferably not from the in-game help that is offered. Its translation to English might confuse you even more.

EuroShogi combines rules from the Japanese chess and blends them with those of standard game. The movement of the pieces are the same as in Shogi but the win conditions are those from classic chess. At first it’s a bit confusing, especially since the game is played in a board that’s 8x8 and not 9x9 which means you have four less pieces to use.

Visually, EuroShogi isn’t all that appealing but it is simple enough for anyone to be able to play it. Pieces are moved by simply clicking the one you want and then clicking again where you need to move it. You can play against a friend or the AI but you need to be a bit patient when it comes down to the latter because the game tends to freeze a bit when it’s the computer’s time to move.

If you’re just starting off with Shogi, the game allows you to choose the computer difficulty level and you can even set the maximum amount of time that is allowed to plan and make a move. Apart from that, the game also enables you to choose the color of the pieces you want to play with, and whether you want them to be on the top or bottom of the board.

To sum things up, EuroShogi is a rather decent attempt at changing Shogi enough to make it a bit more interesting but it’s a game designed for the fans of Japanese chess. Others might not find it all that interesting.