Onitama is an elegant and simple game which captures the essence of martial arts

Each game is quick, usually 15 minutes in length

Each game will use 5 cards chosen randomly from the 16 game cards

The board begin's with each player controlling 4 pawns and 1 king

Each player has a hand of 2 cards

One card is a spare on the side of the board (or on mobile highlighted in the hand)
Playing the Game

Players alternate turns until the game has ended

On a player's turn, they select one of their two cards, determining where they can move one of their pieces

For example, the Ox card lets the player move a piece either

One square forward
One square right
One square behind

Note: Card moves are relative to the player's perspective, so the card will rotate 180 degrees when the opponent has it

Pieces can be moved to any square that is not occupied by a same coloured piece

The played card then switches with the spare card
Capture

If a piece is moved to the same square as an opponent's piece, the opponent's piece is captured and removed from the game
Discarding

If you have no moves that you can legally make, you instead will discard a card, playing it and not moving a pieces

If you can play a move, you cannot discard
Winning the Game

The game can be won in one of two ways
King Capture

If a player captures an opponent's king, they win the game
Base Capture

If a player moves their king to the starting square of the opponent (the coloured square), they win the game