Kings Valley - Rules

Created by: Mitsuo Yamamoto

The original game can be found here.

Board and Pieces:
King's Valley is played on a 5x5 tile board, and the center square is named the "King's Valley".
Each player has a king piece and four soldier pieces.

Starting Position:
Each player places their five pieces on the first row on each side. The King piece is placed on the center tile of the front line, and four soldier pieces are placed on the other tiles.

Object:
Move your king piece to the central "King's Valley" tile.

Number of Players: 2

Rules:
Game-play consists of players taking turns moving one of their pieces onto a vacant square of the board. Players must move one of their five pieces on their turn: one of the four Soldiers or the King.
All pieces move in the same way: horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
Pieces continue their movement until, and only until, they reach a vacant square adjacent to (or alongside) either the edge of the board or another piece, at which point the movement ends. Stopping in the middle of a “slide,” as in chess, is prohibited.
The King is the only piece the players may stop at the center square. The player may not do so by stopping the King's movement “mid-slide.”

For the first move of the game, the player going first must move a Soldier.
Passing a turn is illegal. On your turn, you must move a piece.
If a player’s King is fixed on the square and can't move at the next turn, they lose.

"Retrieve the King"

"Retrieve the King" is an additional starting position invented by Mitsuo Yamamoto in Dec 2010 for skillful players.
This is accomplished by placing each King on the center tile of the opponent’s side of the board. This change only requires a different starting position. The rules are the same as the standard game.