Siguo Junqi (Four-Player Army Chess) — free online Board game
The Chinese four-army battle game: two teams, hidden pieces, bombs, landmines and railway engineers.
Siguo Junqi (四国军棋, "four-country army chess") is free to play in your browser: four armies on a cross-shaped board, you and your computer ally against two computer enemies. Each army has 25 hidden pieces — a field marshal, generals and officers down to lieutenants, three engineers, two bombs, three landmines and the flag. When two pieces meet, the higher rank wins and nobody sees the ranks, so every battle is also a clue. Bombs destroy whatever they touch, landmines stop everything except engineers, and engineers can race round corners on the railway. Capture an enemy flag to knock that army out; the team that knocks out both enemies wins. Arrange your own army before the battle, play with hidden or open pieces, and pick one of three computer levels. Pieces can show their Chinese names or simple numbers. No download, no sign-up.
Quick start
- Press Start, pick a level and Hidden or Open pieces. Your army (red) is at the bottom, your ally (yellow) at the top, the enemies (blue East, green West) on the sides.
- Arrange your army: tap two of your pieces to swap them, or press Shuffle. Press Ready to begin.
- On your turn tap one of your pieces: green dots show where it can go, a green outline marks an enemy you can attack.
- The armies play in turn: you, East, your ally, West. Capture both enemy flags to win.
How to play Siguo Junqi (Four-Player Army Chess)
- Pieces move one step along any road line. On the railway (the thick dashed lines) a piece can run any distance in a straight line, including round the four corner curves, as long as nothing is in the way.
- Engineers are special on the railway: they can turn at any junction and reach any free railway point.
- Moving onto an enemy piece starts a battle. The higher rank wins; equal ranks are both removed. A bomb removes itself and whatever it meets. A landmine destroys any attacker except an engineer, which clears it.
- Camps (the circles) are safe: a piece in a camp cannot be attacked. A piece that enters a headquarters can never move again.
- Landmines and the flag never move. When an army's field marshal falls, that army must show where its flag is.
- Capturing a flag knocks that army out and removes all its pieces; an army that has nothing left to move is out too. The team that knocks out both enemies wins. If nobody fights for 160 moves, the game is drawn.
- Set-up rules: the flag goes in one of the two headquarters, landmines only in the last two rows, bombs not in the front row, and the five camps start empty.
The 25 pieces of each army
- Field Marshal 司令9 ×1
- The strongest officer. Only a bomb or a landmine can stop it — but if it falls, your flag is revealed.
- General 军长8 ×1
- Second in command.
- Major General 师长7 ×2
- Strong attackers for breaking through.
- Brigadier 旅长 · Colonel 团长6 ×2 · 5 ×2
- The backbone of the army.
- Major 营长 · Captain 连长 · Lieutenant 排长4 ×2 · 3 ×3 · 2 ×3
- Junior officers, ideal for probing hidden pieces.
- Engineer 工兵1 ×3
- The weakest officer, but the only piece that clears landmines, and it turns freely on the railway.
- Bomb 炸弹💣 ×2
- Removes itself and any piece it meets, attacking or defending.
- Landmine 地雷✹ ×3
- Never moves; destroys every attacker except engineers.
- Flag 军旗⚑ ×1
- Never moves. Lose it and your army is out.
Controls
- Set-up: tap two of your pieces to swap them; Shuffle deals a new layout; Ready (or Enter) starts the battle
- Move: tap your piece, then a green dot or outline; Esc cancels
- Enter lets the computer play your move for you
- The label button switches the pieces between Chinese names and numbers (9 marshal … 1 engineer, 💣 bomb, ✹ landmine, ⚑ flag)
- Hidden mode shows only your own pieces; Open mode shows everything, which is good for learning
Strategy tips
- Guard the flag: put landmines next to it and a bomb or strong piece close by. A decoy landmine in the other headquarters keeps the enemy guessing.
- Probe with small pieces before you send the big ones — a lost lieutenant tells you something about the piece that beat it.
- Keep engineers alive. Late in the game they are the only way through the landmines around a flag.
- Park strong pieces in camps: they are safe there and still threaten the railway.
- Help your ally: an enemy busy fighting your ally leaves its own flag weaker.
Frequently asked questions
Can I see my ally's pieces?
Not in Hidden mode — as in the classic game, you only know your own pieces. Switch to Open mode to see everything.
Does the computer cheat?
No. In Hidden mode the computer players only use what everybody can work out: where pieces started, how they moved and how their battles ended.
How is this different from two-player Junqi (Luzhanqi)?
The pieces and battle rules are the same; Siguo puts four armies around a central crossroads, adds the corner railways and turns the game into a two-against-two team battle.
Is Siguo Junqi free?
Yes. It is completely free in your browser, with no download and no account.