r/xiangqi

Hi everyone — I’ve been experimenting with a small browser-based strategy game that blends Xiangqi and Chess into one shared battlefield.

The idea is to keep the spirit of traditional piece movement, while adding a few “hero” modifiers inspired by historical figures. For example, one possible matchup is Cao Cao vs Julius Caesar, which creates some fun cross-cultural strategy moments.

I’m not trying to replace Xiangqi — more like exploring what happens when Xiangqi ideas meet another classic strategy system.

I’d really appreciate feedback from people who understand Xiangqi better than I do:

• Do the Xiangqi-inspired pieces still feel respectful to the original game?
• Are any rule interactions obviously unbalanced?
• Do the hero boosts feel interesting, or do they distract from the core strategy?
• Are there any Xiangqi principles I should be careful not to break?

The game supports local play, AI play, and online PvP. Sharing the link here mainly to get feedback from people who care about Xiangqi and strategy games.

Would love to hear what you think — especially if Cao Cao feels too strong or not strong enough. 🙂

Try now: https://verdantia.fun/

Hi everyone, I’m Hao from Taiwan.

I grew up playing Xiangqi with my mother, later joined Xiangqi clubs in high school and university, and since then I’ve kept playing online from time to time (I’m 37 now). I truly love this game, and I believe it can become a lifelong companion for many people.

What made me start creating videos was actually a conversation with a close friend of mine, who leads Christian youth activities in Germany. He told me one of the teenagers there became interested in Xiangqi, but struggled to find enough learning materials online. (She already beats my friend, who is definitely not a complete beginner)

Later, when I shared this idea with some colleagues, one of them from Central America—whose girlfriend has Chinese roots—also told me he would love to learn and would really appreciate beginner-friendly resources like this.

That made me realize there may be more people like them: curious about Xiangqi, but not sure where to start. So I started a small beginner series on Youtube.

So far I uploaded four videos:

• What makes Xiangqi different from chess
(mainly for chess players curious about Xiangqi—I used the Cannon as the “wow” piece. Feedback about how to do it better is welcome!)

• 3 beginner mistakes to avoid

• Which opening beginners should learn

• Where to play Xiangqi online

You can absolutely skip around depending on what interests you most, though I designed the four videos as a connected beginner path, so occasionally they reference each other a little.

I’m not trying to sell anything—I just genuinely love this game and hope more people can discover how beautiful it is.

For those of you who already play Xiangqi, what do you think beginners struggle with the most? What kind of English resources do you wish existed more?

I would really appreciate honest feedback, even critical feedback. I’m completely new to social media and content creation, but I’ll do my best to keep improving and make better videos in the future. Also I confess I am not an expert player, so I believe I could also learn a lot together with you along the journey. Let’s explore this ancient beautiful art together!

Thanks so much and enjoy your Friday night/weekend!

Here is the beginner series playlist:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfejpgPChRDM2EHchR8M8HDW14TIBwI9a&si=yEyXeDBd4iDeHlOQ