No.203
Shogi-Piece Pick-Up
Japanese name: 将棋くずし
Materials
- Shogi pieces
- A shogi board or flat board
- A box for the pieces
How to play
- Put shogi pieces in their box, invert it at the board's center, then lift off only the box to leave a pile. Choose turn order and sit without shaking the board.
- On your turn, choose one piece and push it to the board's edge with one finger. Do not lift it or support it with your other hand.
- If it reaches the edge without pieces making contact noise, collect it. In the introductory version, change turns after every successful piece.
- If a noise occurs, stop your hand and leave the moved piece where it is. The next person takes a turn; there is no need to rebuild the pile.
- When the pile is gone, count collected pieces and finish. If hearing differs among participants, replace the sound rule with “change turns if another piece moves.”
Ways to adapt
Preschool children: a low pile of ten pieces. Younger primary school children: one point per piece. Older primary school children: try the traditional consecutive-success turns.