Shogi NEO
Shogi, reimagined.
Japanese chess, reimagined for quick pass-and-play matches on a single phone.
This one is a web extra — it isn't in the app. The PartyAt app itself ships 17 party games.
Play shogi online free — two players, one screen
Shogi, Japanese chess, playable right here. Two players share one device and take turns; captured pieces change sides and come back into play from your hand. Free, no sign-up, and it keeps working offline once the page has loaded.
Standard rules: promotion in the last three ranks, captured pieces are dropped back into play, and no two unpromoted pawns on one file. Player 1 sits at the bottom and moves up.
Shogi is a web extra — the PartyAt app is a collection of party games for one phone, from a bomb-passing game to bingo, dice and roulette, for up to a hundred players.
How to play — rules
- Set the 9x9 board with twenty pieces a side on the three ranks nearest you. Player 1 sits at the bottom and moves up the board.
- Take turns, one move each. Every piece has its own step: the pawn goes one square forward, the rook any distance straight, the bishop any distance diagonally, and the knight jumps two ahead and one across.
- Moving onto an enemy piece captures it — and in shogi a captured piece changes sides. It goes into your hand, and on a later turn you may drop it onto any empty square instead of moving.
- A move that enters, leaves or travels inside the last three ranks may promote the piece by turning it over. Pawn, lance, knight and silver start moving like a gold; the bishop and rook keep their range and gain a king’s step. Gold and king never promote.
- Win by checkmating the opposing king. Two drops are illegal: a second unpromoted pawn on a file, and a piece landing where it could never move again.
How to win
Checkmate wins. A player whose king is attacked must answer the threat; when no legal move does, the king is mated and the game is over.
FAQ
- Can I really use the pieces I capture?
- Yes — that is what makes shogi different from chess. A captured piece loses any promotion, goes into your hand, and on any later turn you may drop it onto an empty square as your own. Two limits: you may not have two unpromoted pawns on the same file, and you may not deliver checkmate with a dropped pawn.
- When may a piece promote, and is it a choice?
- Whenever a move enters, leaves or stays inside the last three ranks. It is your choice, with one exception: a piece that could never move again — a pawn or lance on the final rank, a knight on either of the last two — must promote. Gold and king never promote.
Where it shines
Pass one phone around and play it in moments like these.
- Just the two of youHead-to-head while you wait.
- Anywhere, offlineNo wifi, no signal? No problem.
