One of the best things of living in Switzerland, besides Rösti and an abundance of good cheese, is Brockis or Brockenhäuser, which are second-hand shops where you can find all sorts of things, from furniture to clothes, to books, musical instruments, toys, board games and more. They are not only a great example of circular economy, but also kind of window into the past and a treasure trove for someone searching for unique items or vintage finds.
The other day I found the beautiful board game pictured below. You will think that in the age of AI-powered search, identifying a game like this provided a description or a picture would be a matter of seconds. Not quite!
Does anyone know the name of this game or how it is played?
It’s a chess-like 3x3 board with two sets of four pieces each. I’m not sure if one of the pieces is redundant or if some pieces are missing. The white pieces appear to be llamas or alpacas, while the other pieces seem to be shepherds. The beautiful border seems to be decorative only.
The closest match I found was Hexapawn, and my friend Girts also suggested a form of Peruvian chess, or 3x3 chess.