Takotsubo!! 1996

User summary タコツボ (Takotsubo!!), themed on sea creatures, is an abstract game similar to Chess, Checkers and Shogi. You win the game by catching your opponent's Octopus piece or moving your Octopus into the trap pot (Takotsubo). Like checkers, catch your opponent's pieces by jumping over them. Try to come up with a clever tactic to lure and catch your opponent's Octopus.

This game was originally designed with its illustration in 1996 by Kohei Higashi, a former Japanese Chess champion and Shogi journalist, when he was 60. After twenty years, in 2016, it was reissued with the artwork by Maiko Fujita. The re-issue is called タコツボ 復刻版, meaning "Takotsubo!! Reprint".

Publisher's summary 海の生き物たちによる、チェス・チェッカー・将棋に似たアブストラクトゲーム。相手のタコをつかまえるか、自分のタコがタコツボに入れば勝ち。生き物はチェッカーのように飛び越せるときは必ず相手を飛び越してつかまえなくてはいけない。うまくおびきよせて、タコをつかまえるには？ 1996年、チェス元日本代表で、将棋記者の東公平が日本に将棋やチェスの楽しさを伝えられるように60歳のときに考案・イラストデザインしたゲーム。20年後の2016年に、ふじたまいこのアートワークでリニューアル出版した。"