Shogun

SHOGUN

The 1976 Epoch board game where the pieces change as they move.

In SHOGUN every piece carries a number, and that number tells you exactly how many squares it must move. The catch: the number changes every time the piece lands. In the original board game, hidden magnets under each square flipped a disc inside the piece, so you never quite knew what your army would be capable of next turn. This version recreates that with a hidden terrain map that is different every game.

Capture the enemy SHOGUN, or whittle his army down to just his SHOGUN and a single pawn, and the battle is yours.

How to play

• Each side has a SHOGUN and seven pawns on an 8x8 board.
• A pawn moves exactly 1, 2, 3 or 4 squares, the number shown on it. The SHOGUN moves 1 or 2.
• Moves go across and up or down only, never diagonally. No jumping over pieces, no doubling back, and at most one turn in a move.
• Land on an enemy piece to capture it.
• When a piece lands, the terrain beneath it sets its new number.

It takes a couple of minutes to learn. Mastering the board, and remembering which squares hide the big numbers, takes a lot longer.

Features

• One player against the computer, or two players on one machine.
• Two computer opponents: Classic, the original 2013 computer player, and Improved, which follows the same plan but takes a little more care over where it moves, for when you want a tougher game.
• Optional move guides that show where the selected piece can go, and an optional show terrain mode for learning the board.
• Phone-friendly: hold your phone upright and it switches to the original portrait layout. Lay it flat between two players, one at each end, for the proper board-game experience. Red's numbers face the red player, just like the real pieces.
• Crisp ZX Spectrum style text at any window size, with a resizable window and fullscreen.
• Mouse, touch, keyboard or controller.

Controls

Mouse / touch	Click a piece, then click where to move it. Click it again to cancel.
Keyboard	Arrow keys or WASD move the cursor; ENTER or SPACE selects.
Controller	D-pad or left stick moves; A selects; B or START pauses.
ESC	Pause (press again for the menu).
Fullscreen	F11 or ALT+ENTER on Windows; F in the browser.

Downloads

• Windows: a single small .exe (about 2 MB). No installer, no extra files; just run it.
• Browser: play right here on this page, on PC or phone.

About this version

SHOGUN was my September 2013 One Game A Month entry, released for Android. Thanks go to Dr Beep of World of Spectrum, who suggested I make it. He has written several tiny versions of SHOGUN himself for the ZX Spectrum and ZX81, which are well worth a look. Only a handful of computer versions of this game have ever been made, and it deserves to be better known.

This 2026 edition is rebuilt from the final Android release for PC and web. Along the way I fixed a few old bugs: the computer could freeze if it had no legal move, and a check made by moving a piece out of the way was never announced.

Credits

SHOGUN board game designed by Teruo Matsumoto, © 1976 Epoch Co., Ltd. (Epoch Playthings in the US), published in Europe by Ravensburger from 1979.
Computer version © 2013–2026 TCKSoft / Andrew Pointon.
This is an unofficial fan remake made out of love for the original game. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Epoch or Ravensburger.

If you remember the original board game, I'd love to hear about it in the comments. Thank you for playing!