Pokémon Battle Chess

This article is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Needs information on Pokémon Battle Chess W gameplay

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ポケモンバトルチェス Pokémon Battle Chess
Pokémon Battle Chess BW Version Pokémon Battle Chess W
Release date	December 26, 2011 Pokémon Battle Chess BW Version May 18, 2012 Pokémon Battle Chess December 28, 2012 Pokémon Battle Chess W
Publisher(s)	The Pokémon Company
Age	6+
Players	2
External Links Pokemon-BC.com (Japanese)

Pokémon Battle Chess (Japanese: ポケモンバトルチェス Pokémon Battle Chess) is a series of board games published by The Pokémon Company in Japan, based on the game of chess, with some aspects of shogi, in which the traditional chess pieces are replaced with Pokémon.

The first version of the game, Pokémon Battle Chess BW Version (Japanese: ポケモンバトルチェス ＢＷバージョン), was released on December 26, 2011, and prior to this a demo was made available for players online as Pokémon Battle Chess WEB (Japanese: ポケモンバトルチェス WEB). A second version, simply named Pokémon Battle Chess, was released on May 18, 2012 and a final version named Pokémon Battle Chess W (Japanese: ポケモンバトルチェスＷ) was released on December 28, 2012.

Gameplay

Pokémon Battle Chess BW Version

Each player starts with two Patrat, two Zoroark, one Serperior, one Emboar, one Samurott, and one Egg containing Victini. Each player also has Reshiram and Zekrom, so-called "Legend Pieces", that take up a 2×2 grid on the board and that can only be placed in certain circumstances. The aim of the game is to beat the opponent's Victini.

Pieces are only allowed to move and attack in certain directions. Unlike chess, there is a concept of power: if the attacker has more power than the defender, then it attacks instantly. If it has less or equal, it draws a Plus Power card, boosting the power +0, +20, +30, +40 or +70 (note that +0 is in the deck twice). If a +70 is drawn or if the deck runs out, all the cards get shuffled back into the deck immediately. If the attacking Pokémon has more power after the Plus Power, the defender is damaged; if the defender has more, the attacker is damaged. If they have the same power after the Plus Power, no one is damaged.

Legend Pieces can only be placed on the board when the player loses a specific amount of non-Legend Pieces - three for Zekrom, four for Reshiram. A Legend Piece can be placed anywhere on the board, presuming there is room, but being placed on the board resets the count for a Legend Piece to be placed and ends the turn. Legend Pieces can attack two adjacent pieces at the same time.

When pieces are damaged for the first time, they are turned over and the second time they are damaged, they are removed. Victini and its egg are an exception. The egg can be damaged three times, each time a part going out of play, then the Victini hatches and behaves like a normal piece. The egg pieces do count towards summoning Legend Pieces. Usually power is lowered after damage but Emboar and Victini's power is raised.

Initial layout

		Patrat	Emboar	Patrat
	Zoroark	Samurott	Egg	Serperior	Zoroark

Game pieces

Pokémon	Power		Movement
	Initial	Damaged	Initial	Damaged
Patrat	60	50	One square orthogonally	One square orthogonally
Zoroark	70	50	Up to two squares directly forward, one square diagonally forward, or one square directly backward	Up to two squares directly forward, one square diagonally forward, or one square directly backward
Serperior	90	60	Any number of free squares orthogonally	Up to two squares orthogonally
Samurott	90	60	Any number of free squares diagonally or one square directly forward	Up to two squares diagonally or one square directly forward
Emboar	70	100	One square diagonally forward or directly backward	One square diagonally forward, directly backward, or horizontally
Egg 1	N/A	N/A	Cannot move	N/A
Egg 2	N/A	N/A	One square horizontally	N/A
Egg 3	N/A	N/A	One square orthogonally	N/A
Victini	40	80	One square orthogonally or diagonally	Up to two squares diagonally forward or directly backward or one square directly forward, horizontally or diagonally backward
Reshiram	120	100	One square orthogonally	One square orthogonally
Zekrom	110	100	Up to two squares vertically or one square horizontally	One square orthogonally

Pokémon Battle Chess

The board and packaging for Pokémon Battle Chess

Gameplay for Pokémon Battle Chess and Pokémon Battle Chess BW Version is nearly identical; however, different Pokémon are used. Each player starts with two Magikarp, two Meowth, one Charizard, one Pikachu, one Venusaur and one Egg containing Togepi. The Legend Pieces are Lugia and Ho-Oh. Uniquely, when Magikarp is damaged and flipped over, it reveals its evolution Gyarados on the other side of the piece.

Initial layout

		Magikarp	Pikachu	Magikarp
	Meowth	Charizard	Egg	Venusaur	Meowth

Game pieces

Pokémon	Power		Movement
	Initial	Damaged	Initial	Damaged
Magikarp Gyarados	40	90	Magikarp One square directly forward or diagonally backward	Gyarados Up to two squares directly forward, up to two squares diagonally backward or one square horizontally
Meowth	70	60	Up to two squares directly forward, one square diagonally forward, or one square directly backward	One square vertically or one square diagonally forward
Venusaur	100	70	Any number of free squares orthogonally	Up to two squares orthogonally
Charizard	100	70	Any number of free squares diagonally or one square directly backward	Up to two squares diagonally or one square directly backward
Pikachu	80	60	One square diagonally forward or orthogonally	One square diagonally forward or orthogonally
Egg 1	N/A	N/A	Cannot move	N/A
Egg 2	N/A	N/A	One square horizontally	N/A
Egg 3	N/A	N/A	One square orthogonally	N/A
Togepi	40	70	One square orthogonally or diagonally	Up to two squares orthogonally or one square diagonally
Ho-Oh	90	120	One square orthogonally	One square orthogonally
Lugia	120	100	One square vertically or diagonally	One square vertically or diagonally

To use Ho-Oh, the player must have lost three pieces. To use Lugia, the player must have lost four pieces. The count is reset when either is used. Ho-Oh and Lugia are not considered lost pieces for this count.

Pokémon Battle Chess W

This section is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it. Reason: Needs gameplay information

Pokémon Battle Chess W (Pokémon Battle Chess Double) is a combined set of the two previous versions. In addition to all of the Pokémon pieces from both sets, the Plus Power cards, and a 6r×7c black-and-white game board compatible with the eight-on-eight setups from the previous versions, it adds:

- Two new game boards: a blue 4r×3c board for three-on-three battles, and a red 5×5 board for five-on-five. (Printed together on the reverse of the large board.)

- Plus Power dice, to replace the Plus Power cards in battle resolution.

The recommended game setup for 3-on-3 tense, close-quarters combat is Pikachu, Togepi (already hatched), and Magikarp. Resolve battles with Plus Power dice. Win by defeating the opponent's Togepi.

The recommended game setup for 5-on-5 strategic gameplay is Zoroark, Samurott, Victini (in its egg), Serperior, and a second Zoroark, with Zekrom in reserve. Resolve battles with Plus Power dice. Win by defeating the opponent's Victini or when there opponent cannot make a move.

An example game setup for playing the two versions against each other uses the 6r×7c board, the Plus Power dice, and an array of: - Front row: Magikarp, Pikachu, Magikarp, Pikachu, Magikarp - Back row: Meowth, Venusaur, Charizard, Togepi (in its egg), Charizard, Venusaur, Meowth - Reserve: Lugia, Ho-Oh, Lugia Against: - Front row: Patrat, Emboar, Patrat, Emboar, Patrat - Back row: Zoroark, Serperior, Samurott, Victini (in its egg), Samurott, Serperior, Zoroark - Reserve: Reshiram, Zekrom, Reshiram

When you're comfortable with these example setups, you can try making up your own, by substituting different pieces, or substituting the Plus Power cards for dice.

Pokémon Battle Chess WEB

Pokémon Battle Chess WEB logo

The Pokémon Battle Chess website includes a free Flash single player demo version of the game, called Pokémon Battle Chess WEB (Japanese: ポケモンバトルチェス WEB). The game is based on Pokémon Battle Chess BW, using the same pieces and rules, and allows you to play against the computer. There are two modes; one is a step by step instructional mode, and the other is a regular game.

External links

• Official website (archived)
  • Pokémon Battle Chess BW Version English instruction manual (archived - PDF)
  • Pokémon Battle Chess English instruction manual (broken link - PDF)

• Pokémon Battle Chess WEB (archived - requires Adobe Flash)

• Pokémon Battle Chess WEB on MobyGames

References

This article is part of both Project Merchandise and Project Sidegames, Bulbapedia projects that, together, aim to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Merchandise and Sidegames, respectively.