Battle of the Pronghorns

"It's like chess, but no check, checkmate, castling, or pawns."

A strategy game where every piece is a map of its own movement. Attack, wound, rotate, and outmaneuver your opponent across boards, mazes, and multi-floor dungeons.

Star

(moves like a King)

8 short prongs. Steps one square in any direction. Your front-line workhorse.

Cross

(moves like a Rook)

4 long prongs. Slides any distance along cardinal directions.

Diagon

(moves like a Bishop)

4 long prongs. Slides any distance along diagonals.

Goddess

(moves like a Queen)

8 long prongs. Slides in all eight directions. The most mobile piece on the board.

Steward

(moves like a King, defends like a Queen)

8 fat prongs. Steps one square but defends against long-prong attacks. Carry the crown to win.

Frog

(moves like a Knight)

8 curved prongs. L-shaped jumps that leap over any piece in the way.

Kangaroo

(extended Knight)

16 curved prongs. Both short (2,1) and long (3,1) L-shaped jumps. Exclusive to the 10×10 board.

BirdFoot

(forward-only pawn)

3 short prongs pointing forward. Cheap and expendable, but they add up.

NorthStar / SouthStar

(half-star)

5 short prongs. Steps forward and sideways but not backward. Sturdier than a BirdFoot.

Why you'll love it

Strategy, reinvented

Every piece is defined by its prongs — directional abilities that determine how it moves, attacks, and defends. No memorizing openings. Just outthink your opponent.

Wounding, not just capturing

When prongs clash, the defender loses an ability instead of being removed. Wounded pieces become weaker but stay in play — creating a mid-game interesting complexity, different from chess.

Rotation

Wounded pieces can spend a turn rotating, repositioning their remaining prongs to new angles. A simple mechanic with deep consequences.

Tools & artifacts

Shields absorb hits. Swords negate Shields. Ghosts phase through walls. Dynamite destroys them. Lamps, Candles, Wands, Bags; collect tools scattered across the board to change the course of battle.

Procedural dungeons

Explore maze-based battlefields with fog of war, teleporters, keys, and treasure. Multi-floor dungeons go up to 12 levels deep.

Intelligent AI

Five AI strategies — from random to alpha-beta pruning to fog-of-war specialists — adapt to each game mode.

Online two player

Turn-based matches through Game Center. Play asynchronously on your own schedule across Chessish, Kangaroos, and Dungeon modes.

The core loop

How prongs work

Every piece is a visual map of its capabilities. Prongs point in the directions a piece can move, and their type determines strength.

Short prongs

Move one square in the prong's direction. Stars have eight of these — they're your front line.

Long prongs

Slide any number of squares until hitting an obstacle. Crosses, Diagons, and the Goddess all have these.

Fat prongs

Move one square, like short prongs, but with extra defensive strength. The Steward's signature.

Jump prongs

L-shaped moves that leap over other pieces. Frogs jump (2,1); Kangaroos jump (2,1) and (3,1).

Wounding in action

Stronger attacker

Long prong vs. short prong → defender is captured outright.

Equal prongs

Matched strength → the defender's prong is removed. It can no longer move in that direction.

Weaker attacker

Short prong vs. long prong → defender's prong is shortened from slide to step.

No defense

No opposing prong at all → defender is captured immediately.

Pick your battlefield

Game modes

From guided tutorials to procedurally generated dungeon crawls, there's a mode for every skill level.

Bunny Slope

Progressive tutorial with 27 levels. Learn every mechanic step by step, from basic movement to treasure hunts.

Tutorial

Boot Camp

Seven structured battles against AI with increasing difficulty. Prove you've mastered the fundamentals.

Campaign

Chessish

Classic 8×8 board with full armies. The closest to traditional chess, but with prong-based combat.

Classic

Kangaroos

Expanded 10×10 board with larger armies and more room to maneuver. For when 64 squares aren’t enough.