Would it be appropriate to discuss Shogi ("Japanese Chess") in this thread?
I hope it gains more traction outside of Japan; in terms of pure game design, I feel Shogi is easily the most 'modern' game in the chess family.
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The game has drops (you keep captured pieces and can return them to the board), and most types of pieces can promote, which is a significant part of the game. The pawns also only capture forwards, which is a big adjustment.
As someone who has played a good amount of "Crazyhouse chess" (chess with drops), I've been really surprised by Shogi's subtlety. In Crazyhouse, you can basically explode your opponent off of one mistake right out of the opening, and it's kind of a game of constant haymakers.
But in Shogi, because the pieces are relatively weak, there's a feeling of richness that is brought out through the blending of the drop system, piece promotions, and the limitedness of piece movements. You have to think carefully about how to coordinate your pieces properly for an attack.
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Obviously the endgames are completely different from Chess due to the drop system. Well, I guess I could blab on and on about it, but I just want to say that this game deserves to grow a lot!
