About Paofuqi: Free Board Games in Your Browser
Paofuqi exists to make classic board games easier to open, understand, and share across languages.
What Paofuqi is building
Paofuqi is a small collection of browser-based board games and learning guides. The first game is Banqi, also known as Chinese Dark Chess or Half Chess. Gomoku is now playable too, including local two-player, a computer opponent, and online play with a friend.
The site is designed for direct use: no download, no account, and no paywall before the board. Two people can share a screen and begin.
Why Banqi came first
Banqi is quick to teach but difficult to explain well in English. It uses familiar Xiangqi pieces while changing their movement, adds hidden information, and exists in multiple regional and household forms. A short rule summary can easily become misleading.
Paofuqi therefore places the playable board beside a beginner guide, complete rules, a rank chart, a dedicated Cannon explanation, and an article about variations.
Paofuqi's rules promise
Articles about the current game are checked against the implemented rules. Paofuqi uses a Taiwanese-style Cannon jump system, a one-square movement system, the General–Soldier exception, and a no-legal-action loss condition.
Other Banqi traditions are welcome subjects, and Paofuqi labels them as variants. Paofuqi does not combine a Hong Kong rank chart, a Taiwanese Cannon, and a household draw rule under the label “the official rules.”
Paofuqi's editorial process
Paofuqi is an independent project built, researched, and maintained by one person — Angu (Ting-Yu Chang) — not a large editorial team. Research and drafting may use AI and other software assistance. Angu personally organizes and reviews every page before publishing, and checks active rule and feature claims against the playable implementation. External sources support broader historical and factual claims; AI and automation do not make final editorial decisions.
- Start with the question a player is actually trying to answer.
- Check Paofuqi claims against the playable engine.
- Prefer official organizations and research for broader factual claims.
- Cite external sources and explain uncertainty.
- Separate practical advice from proven fact.
- Keep pages linked, readable, and easy to verify before publishing.
What Paofuqi is not
- It is not a worldwide Banqi governing body.
- It does not claim one household ruleset is the only legitimate form.
- It does not currently offer automatic matchmaking with strangers; online play is invite-a-friend.
Where Paofuqi is going
The immediate goal is to make the Banqi section genuinely useful: a stable game, clear rules, substantial articles, legal pages, and accessible navigation. Future games will be added only when their rules and playable experience are complete enough to deserve a public page.
If you arrive from search, the best test of the project is simple: can you understand the game, play it, and know exactly which rules are active? That is the standard Paofuqi is trying to meet.
Corrections should improve both the article and the playable explanation, so that Paofuqi does not maintain two conflicting versions of the same rule.
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