When a piece is revealed in the classic game of Stratego, it is rotated briefly so that the other player can identify it, and then it is hidden again. This system requires that the players must remember where each revealed piece is at all times.
While I'm not an avid Stratego player, I think that
players should not have to burden themselves with memorization of this sort. I propose, therefore, that the playing pieces should be redesigned as triangular prisms with "hoods" extending from the edges to prevent players from peeking around the edges.
There are three items of information that can be remembered:
1. The rank of the game piece, if it is revealed.
2. Whether or not the game piece can move.
3. The entire movement history of the game piece.
While item three cannot be encoded on the piece, the rank and mobility of the piece can be recorded on a triangular prism. The rank is printed on two of the three rectangular faces, leaving one undecorated rectangular face. One triangular face is colored, while the other is left blank.
Initially, the blank rectangular face is pointed towards the opposing player, and the piece sits on the colored face. If the piece is moved, it is rotated so that it now stands on the blank triangular face. The color signifies that this is a mobile piece. When the piece is revealed to the opposition, it is rotated a quarter turn so that each side can now see one decorated face. Scouts, which are the only unit capable of moving more than one square per turn, are also rotated if they move in such a fashion.