====== Chameleon ======

A chess-like strategy game, played on a 5x5 grid, where each piece's movement capability changes based on the color of the tile where it starts.

  * Designer: Mitsuo Yamamoto
  * Coder: Aaron Dalton (Perlkönig)
  * Chameleon [[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/273396/chameleon|at BoardGameGeek]]
  * Chameleon [[https://www.logygames.com/logy/chameleon.html|at Logy Games]] (in Japanese)

You can find the rules [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190601085108/https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/logygames/chameleon-a-modern-version-of-chess|in the wayback machine]].

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==== AI generated ====

====== Chameleon ======

A 5×5 chess-like game. Every piece steps like a king. Extra movement depends on whether the piece's **nature** matches the colour of the square it currently occupies.

Inventor: Mitsuo Yamamoto

===== Rules =====

See [[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/273396/chameleon|BoardGameGeek: Chameleon]].

==== Goal ====

Checked after each turn, in this order:

  - If the player about to move has no legal moves, the player who just moved wins.
  - If the player about to move already has a piece on the opponent's home rank, **that** player wins (infiltration at the start of their turn).
  - If the player who just moved has exactly one piece left, and it sits on the opponent's home rank, that player wins.

Player 1's home is rank 1; the far rank is 5. Player 2's home is rank 5; the far rank is 1.

==== Setup ====

Chequered 5×5. Player 1 (A) occupies rank 1; player 2 (B) occupies rank 5. Each piece also has a **nature** (light or dark) matching or opposing the square:

  * Rank 5: ''a5'' BW, ''b5'' BB, ''c5'' BW, ''d5'' BB, ''e5'' BW
  * Rank 1: ''a1'' AW, ''b1'' AB, ''c1'' AW, ''d1'' AB, ''e1'' AW

(The second letter is nature: B = dark square nature, W = light.)

==== Gameplay ====

Move one of your pieces.

  * **King step:** one square any direction, onto empty or capturing an enemy.
  * **Matching nature** (piece nature equals the square it stands on): also bishop slides — any distance diagonally, capturing the first enemy, blocked by friendlies.
  * **Opposing nature:** also knight leaps (2×1), onto empty or capturing an enemy.

Capture by replacement. Pieces keep their nature; only the square they stand on changes what extra move they have.

==== Variants ====

No engine variants.

===== Further details =====

==== Version history ====

  * Current engine version: ''20250130'' (2025-01-30). On Abstract Play since 2025-01-31.

==== Links ====

  * [[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/273396/chameleon]]
  * [[http://www.logygames.com/]]