Piyoshogi — The best Shogi app for beginners

Seigo Sato - Shogi player
4 min readAug 15, 2021

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Are you looking for an opponent who is at the same level as you? PiyoShogi is a great Shogi application for beginners and advanced players alike.

In this story, I’ll explain the benefits of using PiyoShogi and how to use it.

If you haven’t learned the rules of Shogi yet, please read the following article first.

Benefits of using PiyoShogi

I recommend PiyoShogi for beginners. Because of 40 subdivided levels in PiyoShogi, players can enjoy it from beginner to senior.

If your first Shogi opponent is a person, I think you may not prefer Shogi because it is hard to win. Therefore, I would like you to play against a beginner-level computer first to gain experience in winning at Shogi.

Also, Piyoshogi has various options such as time limits and handicaps. These options make the game more interesting.

PiyoShogi applications

There are 3 methods to play PiyoShogi. You can either download the application for iOS or Android or use the web application.

Unfortunately, the Android and Web versions are not available in English. There is an English version for iOS, but some features are not available in English. Therefore, in this story, I will focus on the most important “Game Start” mode and explain how to use it.

How to play a shogi game

The other day, I sent a question to the official PiyoShogi website, asking for permission to use screen captures on my blog. Therefore, I will describe each application with captures.

iOS version

1. From the first screen, click the “Game Start” button.

2. From the next screen, click the “Game Start” button again. There are various options on this screen. I will explain the options after explaining the Android version and the Web version.

3. Then, you can start playing a Shogi game. Have fun!

Android version

1. From the first screen, click the “対局開始” button. This Japanese word also means “Game Start”.

2. From the next screen, click the “対局開始” button again.

3. Then, you can play a Shogi game. The game screen is the same as the iOS version.

Web application

When you access the link above, the “対局設定”(Game Configuration) screen will appear. Pless the “対局開始”(Game Start) button and have fun.

PiyoShogi Options

In the “Game Configuration” or “対局設定” screen, you can select the following options. If you play with the iOS version, confirm the English options. If you play with the Android or Web version, confirm the Japanese options.

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Seigo Sato - Shogi player

I enjoy playing Shogi as a hobby and achieved 3-Dan player. I aim to popularize Shogi to English-speaking countries.