Unfortunately yea this game suffers from the AI throwing away material constantly. Especially on boards with chokepoints, you can simply "win" on turn 5 almost, just hit end turn 50 times and bumrush pawns to the end in one move ( https://imgur.com/a/n0lHH7G ). It's also very easy to bait the enemy to throw away the pieces, if it doesn't on its own. I think that the ability to move pieces should become progressively more pricey the more moves are made on a turn, and be more expensive for more valuable pieces (sweeping the board with a queen in one turn definitely shouldn't be possible). Overall the game suffers from a lack of difficulty I think, tho it's still very enjoyable I find!
I think the issue with making the AI more cautious is it would quickly become a war of attrition, yet I think that may be more an issue with the game principles themselves (esp on more blocked boards) than the AI, given that it's predominantly spawning pawns. Maybe have the AI make more intelligent decisions on what pieces to spawn, based on mobility evaluations
Yeah, I wonder if setting up piece limits or even a material limit would help the blockading thing. Alternatively, have a "threat level" for the AI where it gets more aggressive with adding new strong pieces if you are just skipping through turns quickly.
I have a few ideas for challenge mode. Specifically a King of the Hill mode where you need to keep a king in the center of the board for X number of turns. It's just finding the time to make that happen at the moment.
Thanks for the thoughts and feedback on this!