What is Mini Forest?

Most of you probably haven’t heard of the variant we know as Mini Forest.

This game is played not on 64 squares, but on the dark 32 squares, and so all of the pieces can move like that. The objective of the game is to obtain the most points while you capture your opponent’s king.

Each player has 12 pieces and 7 different types of pieces, but one extra piece can be received via pawn promotion.

Pieces

Pawns

The four pawns per player are situated on the third and sixth ranks, and move one square diagonally each turn and capture the same way.

Once a pawn reaches the player’s eighth rank, it can promote to all of the pieces listed below except for the king and itself.

Pawns may never move backward.

Bishops

Each player has one bishop, situated on b2 and g7, respectively. Bishops move normally.

Camels

Camels are pieces that move like knights, but knights switch colors each turn! This means that they cannot stay on the dark squares and are sitting ducks. Camels, however, move three squares and one instead of the knight’s two and one, so they remain on the same color each turn.

They are situated on h2 and a7.

Ferz

Players do not start with a ferz; however, they can receive one via promotion. They can move one square in each direction diagonally, like the king, but aren’t as valuable.

Grasshoppers

Back to these, are we?

Grasshoppers move in any direction, but with one key twist: they move in one direction until the first piece, and hop over it.

This means that if there aren’t any pieces in the line, the grasshopper cannot move in that direction.

If a piece is on the next available square, the grasshopper cannot jump there.

Grasshoppers start in the corners of the board, on a1 and h8.

Alfils

Is the plural of Alfil Alfils or Alfil?

The four alfils start on g1, f2, b8, and c7. They move diagonally, but with one key twist: they can only move two squares in any diagonal direction and they can jump over other pieces. They are the same as the elephants in Chaturanga.

Dabbabas

Dabbabas start on d2, e1, d8, and e8. They are the rook form of alfils: they can move two squares in any vertical or horizontal direction and they can jump over other pieces.

Kings

Kings are normal. The game is ended by capturing the king, but the game is decided by points, as shown below:

Scoring

The game is won by having more points than your opponent. The score is decided as below:

Pawns Taken: 1 point each

Bishops Taken: 5 points each

Grasshoppers Taken: 3 points each

Camels Taken: 3 points each

Alfils Taken: 1 point each

Dabbabas Taken: 1 point each

Ferz Taken: 1 point each

King Taken: 20 points