How to Play Aeroplane Chess "Fei Xing Qi" 飞行棋

Aeroplane Chess is a fun, fast-paced and easy to learn classic Chinese board game enjoyed by adults and children alike. It very similar to the game Ludo, in which the object of the game is to have all your pieces reach the center first.

The Board

Gameplay

Starting

2 to 4 players begin by placing their respective color pieces in their hangers. Each takes turns throwing the die, and the player with the highest roll plays first. The players to the left follow in turn.

Movement

A player must roll an even number to move an airplane out onto the launch area. If the player already has one or more airplanes out of the hanger, he can choose to move an airplane to the launch area or move an airplane that is already out of the hanger.

Pieces move clockwise around the board. The number of spaces a piece moves is determined by the roll of the die. If the player rolls a 6, the player either launches or moves a piece, and then rolls again. However, if another 6 is rolled, then the piece or pieces moved by the two previous 6s are sent back to the hanger.

If a player's piece lands on a space that already has one of his own airplanes, then those pieces are stacked together. Depending on house rules determined by all the players, airplanes that are stacked then move together as one unit or only move singly.

When a player's piece lands on a space with an opponent's airplane, the opponent's airplane is attacked and sent back to their hanger. When a player's piece lands on an opponent's stack of airplanes, then all those stacked airplanes are sent back to the hanger.

When a player's piece lands on a space with its own color, it jumps four spaces forward to the next space of its own color in addition to any stacking or attacking that is done.

When a player's piece lands on a jump point, the player jumps by following the dotted line to the space across the board in addition to any attacking that is done. In addition, any piece it passes over that lies in the space along the dotted line is attacked and sent back to its hanger. Once it lands on the other side of the jump point, the piece jumps another four spaces as per the previous jumping rule, unless the piece has arrived on the jump point as a result of a jump.

When a player's piece has reached the final stretch of its own color the piece continues its moves toward the center to its home base. When a player's die roll lands its piece on the home base, that piece has completed its journey and is returned back to the hanger face down. If the die roll value is too big to land it on the home base, it must continue a number of spaces it must move by backtracking away from the home base.

The first player to have all four of their airplanes finish their journeys wins. The remaining players continue the game to determine the runner-ups.

 

 

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