Onitama

Onitama is a two-player abstract strategy board game played on a 5x5 grid. Each player has five pieces: one Master and four Students. The goal is to capture the opponent's Master or to move your own Master onto the opponent's Temple space, achieving a Temple Victory.

The starting setup places Masters on the center squares of each back rank, with Students filling the remaining back-row positions and the front-row positions. The game uses a fixed set of 16 movement cards, each depicting a pattern of moves relative to the player’s orientation. At the start of play, two cards are placed face up in the center of the table and are shared by both players.

Movement and turn structure: On a turn, a player selects one of their two available cards and moves one of their own pieces according to the pattern shown on that card. After the move, the chosen card is swapped with the other player’s face-up card, so each player always has two cards available and card ownership alternates.

Capturing and victory conditions: If a move lands on a square occupied by an enemy piece, that piece is captured and removed from the board. The Master is the most important piece; capturing the opponent’s Master results in an immediate win. Additionally, if a player successfully moves their Master onto the opponent’s Temple space, they win instantly through a Temple Victory.

End of game: The game ends when either Master is captured or a Temple Victory is achieved. The remaining play area comprises a single 5x5 board, ten pieces, and sixteen movement cards.