How to play
BEAR HUNT
- One player is the bear; they place the bear on the middle intersection of the board
- The hunters are place in a row on any three points on the outside of the board, they must be in a line along the outer rim
- Hunters Go First
- In turns, players move one piece 1 space along the lines indicated on the board to an adjacent intersection
- Pieces can only land on an empty play space and do not jump There are no captures.
- HOW TO WIN
- The hunter wins if they can trap the bear so that the bear cannot move.
- The bear wins if the bear can avoid being captured for 40 moves (20 by each player).
Sz'Kwa
- A two-player abstract strategy game from Taiwan. It is a go, weiqi, or baduk variant. The Sz'Kwa board is not square board like go or weiqi. Instead, the board is circular in design. The same board is used by Watermelon Chess and one of the ancient Roman Bear games.
- Goal: To capture the most enemy pieces.
- The board is empty in the beginning.
- Players decide what colors to play, and who starts first.
- Players drop one of their pieces on any vacant intersection point on the board. Only one piece can be dropped per turn. Players alternate their turns.
- Enemy pieces can be captured as long as they are surrounded completely by the player's pieces.
- The game ends when there are no more vacant intersection points to drop a piece onto, or when one player has exhausted all their pieces.
WATER MELON CHESS
- Players decide what colors to play, and who starts first.
- Each player's six pieces are initially placed on the six closest intersection points on their side of the board.
- Players alternate their turns, and move one piece per turn. A piece can move one space per turn following the pattern on the board.
- Enemy pieces can be captured if surrounded by the player's pieces so that it cannot move. Only one enemy piece can be captured per turn. Captured pieces are removed from the board.
- The goal is to reduce the opponent's numbers to two pieces
INFO
Bear games are ancient Roman two-player abstract strategy board games still played today, especially in Italy. They typically feature three hunters and one bear on a patterned board. Unlike capture-focused hunt games, the goal here is for the hunters to hem in and block the bear's movements.
The closest relatives to Bear games are Hare games, and Watermelon Chess, which shares a board with a Bear game variant, along with the Go Variant Sz'Kwa.
In Bear games, hunters aim to confine the bear, while the bear tries to avoid this fate. Optionally, if hunters can't stalemate the bear in a set number of moves, e.g., 40, the bear wins.
Rules vary, but generally, the bear starts in the middle, hunters together at one end, both move one space following the board's pattern, and there are no captures.
In Watermelon Chess, players choose their starting colors and take turns moving one piece per turn on a grid-based board. To capture an opponent's piece, you must surround it so it can't move. The objective is to reduce your opponent's pieces to only two.
This game is similar to ancient Roman Bear games but differs in that each Watermelon Chess player has six pieces, while Bear games involve three hunters and one bear. In Bear games, only hunters can immobilize the bear, but in Watermelon Chess, all pieces can immobilize and capture the opponent's pieces by surrounding them.
Sz'Kwa is a two-player abstract strategy game from Taiwan, akin to go, weiqi, or baduk. Unlike traditional square boards, Sz'Kwa features a circular design, shared with Watermelon Chess and an ancient Roman Bear game.
At the game's outset, the circular board is empty, and players choose their colors and starting player. They take turns placing one piece on vacant intersections. Capture occurs when enemy pieces are completely surrounded.
The game concludes when no vacant intersections remain or when a player runs out of pieces. The winner is the one who captures the most pieces.
