Chess play with dice

So I walked into my crowded, all right down right messy, games room to grab a game for this week's review.

I opened a gaming bag, one I haul to a local coffee shop on occasion to get in some board time with a bud, and I came across Proteus. I was somewhat surprised I have not written about this little beauty before.

Proteus has been around awhile, launched in 2001 by Steve Jackson Games, a small company with a knack for producing winning concepts.

With Proteus, designer Francis K. Lalumiere has taking something usually not associated with abstract strategy games - dice.

"Proteus - a dice game that plays a little like chess and a lot like nothing you've ever seen before! Played on a standard chess board, each side gets eight dice, with a different piece on each face. You start with eight pawns, but each turn you get to change one of your dice to a more powerful piece. But as your pieces get more powerful, they become worth more points to your opponent! The game is easy to learn, but mastering the intricate strategies will prove much harder," states the game packaging.

Surprisingly with a handful of dice as pieces Proteus actually adds a level of new strategic decision making to the familiar game of chess.

"Players gain points by capturing their opponent's dice. The player who captures the most pieces will not necessarily be the winner; it depends on the value of each of the captured pieces. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game is the winner," stated the rules.

That it is a point-based win system changes the approach to the game. You are no longer focused on trapping the single king piece. In fact the king does not exist in Proteus.

While the other five chess pieces are represented on one face of each die, the sixth is a 'pyramid'. It cannot move, or be captured, so is a defensive piece.

On a player's turn they must move a piece then rotate a different piece to a new face. There is a hierarchy among the pieces, and you can only rotate up, or down one level at a time. The pyramid being the lowest and having to value, with the queen highest and worth six points when captured.

To keep the queen from being ultra dominant a special capture takes a queen. While all pieces are captured by replacement as in standard chess, you can 'backstab' the queen - "An opposing piece moves to the square directly behind the queen that is, the square between the queen and the first rank on her side of the board. Thus a queen cannot be captured this way if she is on her own first rank."

This special capture leaves the queen a powerful piece, but also more vulnerable, and at six points, the loss of a queen can be a game changer.

Incredibly portable, coming in an easy to close plastic clam package, this is an easy game to take 'on-the-road' for a game.

With its familiarity to chess, the rules come easily to those who play the traditional game.

That said Proteus is different enough to offer new challenges in a game which since it has only eight pieces a side, goes quicker than a regular game too.

This is a definite must have for most gamers. Find it and enjoy.

Check it out at www.sjgames.com/proteus