Arimaa

Over the past weekend, I purchased Arimaa from Larry. It is an abstract strategy game like chess and go. In fact, if you own a chess game at home, you can play Arimaa with a few substitutions.

Elephant <-> King
Camel <-> Queen
Horse <-> Rook
Dog <-> Bishop
Cat <-> Knight
Rabbit <-> Pawn

The squares C3, F3, C6, and F6 (the spaces that is above the pawn that is above the bishops) are also marked to denote that they are trap squares.

Like chess, you place your figures on the board in the first two rows of your playing side. Unlike chess, there is no fixed starting position so you can place them anywhere within the first two rows. It is suggested the the Rabbits (pawns) be protected by the stronger pieces because the object of the game is to get one of your rabbit from one side of the board to the opposite side.

On your turn, you have 4 move actions to use among your figures anyway you see fit. You can move your Cat 1 space forward and then move the Camel 2 spaces forward and 1 to the left. All figures can move 1 space forwards, backwards, left, and right with the exception of Rabbits which cannot move backwards.

Your pieces can also Push or Pull opposing weaker pieces (Elephant > Camel > Horse > Dog > Cat > Rabbit). To push, simply move your piece into the opposing square and place the opposing figure in an adjacent unoccupied square. To pull, move your piece to an unoccupied square and place the opposing figure in the vacated square. Pushing or Pulling requires 2 of your total 4 move actions. When your stronger piece is completing a push, it cannot pull an opposing weaker piece with it.

If a figure is on a trap square for any reason, the figure is immediately removed from the game. However, is a friendly piece is adjacent to that trap square, the figure is safe. If all of your opponents Rabbits are eliminated, you win because your opponent has no Rabbits of which to traverse across the board.

Lastly, if your piece is adjacent to an opposing stronger piece, then your figure is considered frozen and cannot move. However, if you have a friendly adjacent figure to yours, then it is not frozen and free to move. Since nothing is stronger than an Elephant, they can never be frozen though you could spend time blockading them.

I have played two games with a coworker. The first time we placed, he was a bit cautious since it seemed like a weird game, but he enjoyed it. We missed out on the rules of friendly figures next to traps and the cost of pushing/pulling.

The second time we played, he appeared ready and eliminated a lot of my pieces like my Camel, both Dogs, a Horse, and a Cat. I only captured a Cat or Dog, but I won because I got a Rabbit across to the other side. I gave him a freebie where he could take back his last move, and I still got the same Rabbit piece across the other side because he was too preoccupied with eliminating my pieces.

He thought the game was a bit too pricey because of the board quality. It looks like only Zman makes this game because he wants a copy now.