Play Hon Shougi Online
Tiny Japanese chess where every piece you capture flips to your side—just when you think you’ve got it figured out, the AI humbles you fast. Those little pixel pieces will mess with your head.
Hon Shougi is a Game Boy title from 1990, developed by I'Max. It was one of the few dedicated shogi games released for the handheld outside Japan, offering a portable version of the traditional board game during a time when puzzle and strategy titles were finding a solid audience on the system.
You control your army of pieces, moving them across a 9x9 grid with the goal of capturing your opponent's king. The core mechanic involves promoting pieces that cross into the enemy's territory; any piece you capture is not removed but flipped and added to your own available reserves, ready to be dropped back onto the board on a future turn. This constant reversal of fortune makes every match tense and cerebral. The AI provides a stiff challenge, often capitalizing on small mistakes, and the pacing is deliberate, demanding careful consideration of each move. It feels like a constant mental tug-of-war where one wrong step can unravel your entire position.
Download Hon Shougi ROM
You can download this ROM to play Hon Shougi offline using an Game Boy emulator (Top Emulators).
*This ROM is provided for backup and educational purposes only.
