A 9×9 board with a shaded 3×3 mandala in the middle and the lotus square (e5) at its heart. Any piece except the King may stand on the lotus. Each side has a King, five great animals that each carry an element colour (Eagle: sky, violet · Rhino: water, blue · Owl: air, teal · Tiger: fire, red · Elephant: earth, green), two Chariots, two Horses and nine Soldiers. The animals are compact shapes that carve easily from one block of wood. Pieces move like chess unless their card says otherwise.
The main game.
A race to capture the enemy's five great animals.
Hold the centre with any animal.
A Soldier that reaches the far rank turns into one of your captured great animals. If all five are still on the board, it becomes a Chariot. A Soldier may step two squares from its starting rank. There is no castling and no en passant.
The player to move has no legal move and is not in check.
The same position, with the same player to move, appears for the third time.
100 half-moves (50 by each player) pass with no capture and no Soldier move.
Neither side can checkmate: each has only a King, or a King and one Horse. In Lotus Hold this applies only when both sides have just a King, since any other piece can still hold the lotus.
One player offers a draw and the other accepts. The computer accepts only when it is losing.
Your Soldier reached the far rank. Choose which captured animal comes back.