Dōbutsu shōgi

Dōbutsu shōgi (どうぶつしょうぎ; "animal shogi") is a small shogi variant for young children. It was invented by women's professional shogi player Madoka Kitao (北尾 まどか, Kitao Madoka), partially to attract young girls to the game. The pieces were designed by fellow women's professional shogi player Maiko Fujita (藤田 麻衣子, Fujita Maiko). It is played on a 3×4 board and generally follows the rules of standard shogi, including drops, except that pieces can only move one square at a time, and the king reaching the enemy camp as an additional way to win the game.

The pieces are square, like children's blocks, have cartoon figures of the relevant animal rather than kanji to identify them, and often have dots on the sides and corners of the directions the pieces can move. The game has been marketed overseas as "Let's Catch the Lion!"