DOWNFALL VS SHATAR

Downfall is a two-player game for players aged 7 and older, first marketed by the Milton Bradley Company in 1970. The game consists of a vertical board with five slotted dials on each side. Each player starts with ten numbered tokens or discs at the top of the board. The object of the game is to move the discs to the bottom of the board by turning the dials. Players alternate turns moving the dials and cannot move a dial that their opponent has just moved. The winner is the first player to move all of their discs into the tray at the bottom. An advanced version of the rules dictates that the discs arrive in the tray in numerical order. Since neither player can see the other's board, it is common to inadvertently advance - or hinder - the opponent's gameplay. The game rewards forward thinking and planning; players may try to "trap" their opponent into turning a dial that will advance their own disc, while trying to ensure that their own discs are not caught and dropped out of order. The game is currently available in the UK under the name New Downfall, manufactured and marketed by Hasbro. The new version follows the same rules but has a more futuristic design in red and yellow. The game's box art is parodied on the cover of Expert Knob Twiddlers, an album by Mike & Rich (Mike Paradinas & Richard D. James).

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Shatar (Mongolian: ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠰᠢᠲᠠᠷ᠎ᠠ Monggol sitar-a, "Mongolian shatranj"; a.k.a. shatar) and hiashatar are two chess variants played in Mongolia. The rules are similar to standard chess; the differences being that: The noyan (ᠨᠣᠶᠠᠨ, lord) does not castle. The küü (ᠬᠦᠦ, pawn) does not have an initial double-step move option, except for the queen pawn or king pawn. In old shatar rules, a pawn that reaches its eighth rank must promote to half-power tiger. But a pawn could step back to its sixth rank to promote to all-power tiger. It moves like a queen. The baras (ᠪᠠᠷᠰ or ᠪᠠᠷᠠᠰ, tiger; Persian: fers) moves like a promoted rook in shogi: like a chess rook or one square diagonally. It was called half-power tiger or half-power lion in old shatar rules. In modern shatar rules, a baras moves like a queen. The mori (knight; ᠮᠣᠷᠢ) cannot deliver mate. In modern shatar rules, the mori can give mate. The bishop (teme) and rook (terge) move as they do in standard chess. The game always starts by White playing 1.d4 and Black responding with 1...d5. This is the only time in the game a pawn may advance two squares; some sources claim this initial move can optionally be made with the e-pawn. In old shatar rules, Ujimqin player must make an initial double-step move with the queen pawn; in Chahar, the king pawn. In old shatar rules, baremate is draw. In old shatar rules, one special rule is called tuuxəi, like komi in Go. A player could leave the enemy with only two pieces remaining (noyan and another piece) at the end. Then he must start making checks using the terge or baras and make consecutive checks until checkmate. Before checkmate, number of consecutive checks is the number of tuuxəi. If a player wins by checkmate as in chess, he receives only one tuuxəi. A player usually leaves the enemy with one noyan and one küü to allow time to put his pieces into good positions for making consecutive checks.

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