Overview

Jungle (also known as Dou Shou Qi or Animal Chess) is a traditional two-player Chinese strategy game. Each player controls eight animal pieces of varying strength, maneuvering them across a board with rivers, traps, and dens. The objective is to move any of your animals into the opponent’s den. The game features a hierarchy of animal strengths with special exceptions and terrain rules.

Components

• 1 game board (7x9 grid with water squares, trap squares, and dens)
• 16 animal pieces (8 per player in two colors: blue and red)

Animal Hierarchy (Strength)

Animal	Power
Elephant	8
Lion	7
Tiger	6
Panther	5
Dog	4
Wolf	3
Cat	2
Rat	1

Setup

Place all pieces on their designated starting squares as marked on the board. Blue moves first.

Turn Structure

Players alternate turns. Each turn consists of moving one piece one square orthogonally (up, down, left, or right) in any direction.

Actions

Movement

• Move one piece one square orthogonally per turn.
• Only one piece may occupy any square.

Capture

• An animal may capture (eat) any animal of equal or lower strength by moving onto its square.
• Special exception: The Rat (power 1) can capture the Elephant (power 8) by running into its ears.
• If animals of equal strength meet, the attacking (moving) animal captures the stationary one.

Special Animal Powers

Rat:

• Can enter water squares and move on them as if on dry land.
• While in the river, no other animal can attack the Rat (they cannot enter water).
• The Rat CANNOT attack the Elephant from a water square.
• If both Rats meet in the river, the moving Rat captures the stationary one.

Lion and Tiger:

• When on a square adjacent to the river’s edge, they can jump over the water in any orthogonal direction, landing on the nearest land square beyond the river.
• They capture any smaller animal on the landing square.
• A Rat in the river in the line of the jump BLOCKS the leap – the Lion or Tiger cannot jump if a Rat is in the way.

Trap Squares

• Each player has 3 trap squares near their den.
• Your own pieces move on and off traps freely.
• An enemy animal on a trap square loses ALL its power and becomes weaker than any defending piece.
• The enemy animal regains full strength as soon as it moves off the trap.

Den

• A player may NOT move any of their OWN animals onto their own den.
• When any animal enters the enemy’s den, that player wins the game.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game is won when any animal piece enters the opponent’s den. There is no point scoring – it is a binary win/loss.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• The Rat’s ability to kill the Elephant is thematic (it gnaws the elephant’s brain through its ear) but cannot be used from a water square.
• A Rat in the river blocks Lion/Tiger jumps across the water, even though the Rat is weaker.
• Trap squares only affect ENEMY pieces; your own pieces are unaffected by your own traps.
• Animals of either side may enter and leave any trap squares freely; only enemy pieces lose their power on traps.

Player Reference

Piece	Power	Special Ability
Elephant	8	None (vulnerable to Rat)
Lion	7	Jumps over river
Tiger	6	Jumps over river
Panther	5	None
Dog	4	None
Wolf	3	None
Cat	2	None
Rat	1	Enters water; captures Elephant (from land only)

Board Feature	Effect
Water squares	Only Rat can enter
Trap squares	Enemy pieces lose all power
Den	Own pieces cannot enter; enemy entry = win