Watermelon Chess: Xi Gua Qi

Six pieces. Twenty-one points. One rule that changes everything. Watermelon Chess (Xi Gua Qi) is a centuries-old Chinese strategy board game with a twist you won't find in any other classic: you don't capture by attacking — you capture by surrounding. Trap an enemy piece so that every single point around it belongs to you, and it's gone. Simple to learn in sixty seconds. Impossible to master. Now rebuilt for mobile, with real-time online battles, ELO ranking, and a global community of players hunting for the perfect encirclement. WHY PLAYERS GET HOOKED Every move is a trade-off. Push forward and you threaten a capture — but you leave a gap behind you. Play safe and your opponent slowly squeezes the board until you have nowhere left to go. There's no luck, no dice, no hidden information. Just you, your opponent, and 21 points of pure tactical tension. Games last minutes, not hours. But the ones you lose will stay with you. PLAY ONLINE AGAINST REAL PEOPLE • QUICK MATCH — Free, instant matchmaking. No ranking pressure, just a good game. • RANKED — Skill-based matchmaking with a full ELO rating system. Start at 1200 and prove you belong higher. • ARENA — High-stakes gold matches across six tiers. The bigger the stake, the sharper the competition. • FRIEND MATCHES — Add friends by username, see who's online, and challenge them instantly. Real-time gameplay over a dedicated game server. Every move is validated server-side, so matches are always fair. CLIMB THE RANKS • Global leaderboards: All-Time, Weekly, Monthly, and Richest players • Full ELO rating with weekly and monthly progress tracking • Detailed profile stats: wins, losses, win rate, best streak, and recent form • Complete match history with opponent, mode, and rating change • Represent your country with a flag on your profile PLAY ANYWHERE, ANYTIME • SINGLE PLAYER — Take on a minimax AI that thinks several moves ahead and punishes careless play. No internet required. • LOCAL TWO PLAYER — Pass one device back and forth. The best way to teach someone the game. • INTERACTIVE TUTORIAL — A guided, step-by-step lesson that teaches movement, surrounding, and winning in a few minutes. Offline modes work completely without a connection — perfect for flights, commutes, and dead zones. THE RULES, IN THIRTY SECONDS Each player starts with six pieces on a 21-point board. On your turn, slide one piece to any connected empty point. If a move leaves an opponent's piece with every neighboring point occupied by your pieces, you capture it. Reduce your opponent to two pieces, run their clock out, or leave them with no legal move — and the game is yours. Five-minute clocks keep every match sharp and decisive. BUILT FOR SERIOUS PLAY • Smooth animated moves with clear valid-move highlighting • Five-minute match clocks with per-move limits online • Daily login rewards and streak tracking • Fair matchmaking with anti-cheat server-side validation • Sign in with Apple — no passwords, no email, no hassle • Full iPad support • Available in 12 languages: English, Türkçe, 简体中文, Français, Español, Português, Deutsch, 日本語, Русский, 한국어, Italiano, العربية Whether you know it as Xi Gua Qi, Watermelon Chess, or the surrounding game, this is a strategy classic that deserves a place next to chess, checkers, and Go on your phone. Download free. Learn in minutes. Spend years getting good.