Onitama

Onitama is a chess-like abstract strategy boardgame, made in PICO-8.

The game is played on a 5x5 board. Each player has five pawns, with the master pawn starting in the middle. At the begin of the game, 5 move cards are randomly selected out of the total of 16 animal moves. The goal is to capture the opponent's master pawn or to on top of their master's starting position.

You can play against an AI with 3 difficulty levels, or "pass 'n play" against another human.

Controls

• Arrow keys, move the board cursor for pawn / destination selection.
• [o] / z to switch between move cards.
• [x] / x to select a pawn / destination.

Rules

During each turn the player chooses one out of two available move cards, and moves a pawn according to the chosen card. This move card will then be passed to the opposite player where it will become active next turn.

You can capture an opponent's pawn. By capturing the opponent's master pawn, or moving your master pawn to the opponent's master pawn starting space, you win the game.

Watch the short (3:24) instruction video on how to play Onitama:

Credits & Links

• Lexaloffle BBS thread
• BoardGameGeek entry for Onitama
• Thanks to @Krystman / Pico Checkmate for the reference PICO-8 Chess AI
• Learn more about programming Chess AI