With all the high-octane action and complicated yakuza conspiracies in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, one could be forgiven for wanting to stop and relax every so often. A series mainstay that might just help you do that is shogi, a Japanese form of chess that’s almost exactly like the game you know and love, albeit different enough to throw hardcore players for a loop.
The real meat of Infinite Wealth‘s shogi minigame, however, are the shogi puzzles, which set up premade shogi scenarios and task you with claiming victory in a set number of moves. These can be real brainteasers, so there’s no shame in getting some help if you’re stuck—I suffered through this, so you don’t have to.
How to solve all Shogi puzzle challenges in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
First, you’ll want to head to Open Road Shogi, which is tucked just behind the shrine in Little Japan. Believe it or not, playing shogi in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has tangible benefits. Not only will it help level Ichiban’s Intelligence stat with every game, but you’ll rack up shogi points as you play that you can then redeem for valuable prizes like level boosters, stat boosters, and even unique books and weapons you can’t get anywhere else. Best of all, it’s completely free, so you can keep trying again as many times as you like.
Every Puzzle Shogi challenge and its solution—there are ten in total—is listed below for your convenience.
Puzzle Shogi 1
As you might expect, puzzle shogi starts you off nice and easy. The first five challenges task you with capturing your opponent’s king in a single move, which sounds far more daunting than it actually is. Simply select your gold general from your piece storage on the right and place it in front of your pawn.
Puzzle Shogi 2
Select your gold general from your piece storage on the right and place it in front of the opponent’s king.
Puzzle Shogi 3
Select your knight from your piece storage on the right and place it one square to the right of your bishop.
Puzzle Shogi 4
Move your silver general forward a single space, and choose Don’t Promote when prompted.
Puzzle Shogi 5
Move your bishop on the right four diagonal spaces to the left, as shown.
Puzzle Shogi 6
This is where it starts getting tricky. First, place your silver general directly to the left of the opponent’s lance. On your next turn, move your bishop to the left of the opponent’s king and make sure to select Promote. From here on out, your move limit is extended from one to three, which allows for more intricate scenarios and more complicated solutions to match. Don’t lose hope!
Puzzle Shogi 7
First, take your rook from your piece storage on the right and place it in the top-right corner. After that, move your knight directly in front of your opponent’s gold general and choose not to promote it.
Puzzle Shogi 8
Move your bishop directly to the left of your lance’s starting position and choose to promote it. Then, simply move your lance up one space and choose to promote that one as well.
Puzzle Shogi 9
Move your silver general directly above the opponent’s king and promote it. After your first piece is bravely sacrificed, select your second silver general from your item storage and place it in front of your opponent’s knight.
Puzzle Shogi 10
The final showdown: it all comes down to this. Move your rook one space to the right and promote it. Finally, move your bishop directly to the left of your opponent’s king to claim victory and become the ultimate shogi master.
Unfortunately, Shogi Grandmaster isn’t a title you can actually use in combat, but isn’t that quiet sense of personal accomplishment its own reward? Naturally, you can also repeat any of these challenges to rack up shogi points and buy out the prize shop.
