Automata chess

Automata chess is an experimental chess variant, in which no piece is ever taken - it is however captured in a very different sense, it becomes a roving automata following a rule determined by the player who has taken it.

I've had one game of automata chess so far. The most striking feature of the game is the sheer mental exhaustion - not only is the game many times more complicated, but each time you take a piece you have to invent a rule. Trying to think of an operating rule at all, let alone one that works to your advantage, each time you take a piece is very draining.

The trial game did also produce the result I was after - a crucial moment where the game was underdetermined. My friend had me in check, but an automata piece was going to block it after my turn. Now, when you're in check, you have to get out of it at the end of your turn, right? Or is it sufficient that another piece will move to block it? We didn't have a chance of determining this - I tried a pseudo-rational explanation of why I was right, but the fact remained this is something that would have to be agreed beforehand and it wasn't. In the end, we had to resolve it at random (which is equivalent to not being able to resolve it at all, I guess)