Description

??? (do?ng wu? qi?) literally translates into English as "Animal Game", though the name Animal Chess is more usually applied to Dou Shou Qi (which is better translated as Battling Beasts Game), from which this game is derived. The other progenitor game for Dong Wu Qi is Lu Zhan Jun Qi and it would be accurate to describe Dong Wu Qi as a hybrid between Dou Shou Qi and Lu Zhan Jun Qi.

In brief, the 8 kinds of animals in Dou Shou Qi are doubled for each player and pieces are placed face down on the board as in Lu Zhan Jun Qi rather than face up as in Dou Shou Qi. The board has similarities with Lu Zhan Jun Qi, with safe areas for animals to move into, and a base at each end of the board which the opponent is trying to get an animal into. The hierarchy of pieces is the same as in Dou Shou Qi, with the Elephant as the strongest piece, but susceptible to the Mouse.

Play is as in Lu Zhan Jun Qi - pieces are known only to their owner and combat (when a piece moves onto another) is resolved by a third person acting as a referee.

Unlike the traditional games of Dou Shou Qi and Lu Zhan Jun Qi, which many companies manufacture, Dong Wu Qi appears only to be made by one or two companies - currently, Da Fu Weng (Uncle Wang) produces this game.