Djambi

About this board game

Djambi, also known as Chess of Machiavelli, is a political strategy game for 3–4 players with a playing time of about 60 minutes. Released in 1968, it takes place on a 9×9 board where every square is ordinary except the central Labyrinth.

Each player leads a political party of nine pieces: a Leader, Journalist, Assassin, Provoker, Necromobile, and four Activists. The goal is absolute power: kill all opposing Leaders. Treason, manipulation, provocation, activism, recuperation, scandal, and political crime all have a place in the struggle.

• Most pieces move like the Queen in chess; an Activist moves in the same way but may travel only two squares.
• Pieces cannot move through another piece, whether living or dead.
• Eliminated pieces remain on the board face down, creating obstacles with no color.

Every role has a distinct way to influence the board. The Leader kills by taking a piece’s place, while the Assassin does the same and leaves the defeated piece dead on the square where the Assassin began. The Journalist moves before killing a piece adjacent to one of the four squares bordering its destination.

The Provoker moves a living piece, placing it on another free square, while the Necromobile does the same with a dead piece. Activists can kill by taking a piece’s place, although they cannot kill a Leader in the Labyrinth.

Only a Leader may remain in the Labyrinth. A Leader there makes its party play after each opponent, but can also be killed by nearly every other piece. In Djambi, the route to power is shaped by position, deception, and the lasting presence of the fallen.