I’ve made three posts about interesting chess-like games that you can play right now. Well, in this post, the fourth (and probably last) in the series, I’m going to shine the spotlight on a few games that are still in development. Four games, appropriately enough. Let’s get to it!
Developers Misfits Attic have been working on this ambitious game for at least 3 years now, on and off. It’s evolved from a paper prototype to a digital one, for which you can request a Steam key through the website. As its name suggests, it’s a combination of chess and Magic: The Gathering. The result is reminiscent of Chaos: The Battle of Wizards (one of my favorite games of all time). You move a pair of “twins” across customized boards and spend mana to play spell cards. Spells allow you to summon creatures or perform actions outside of the normal ruleset. It’s a complex and incredibly intriguing game, and I hope Misfits Attic return to it soon (they had put its development on hold to make the exceptional Duskers, which is understandable).
Chess Heroes is a series of tactical chess challenges framed by a tale of a king and his besieged kingdom. In each scenario, you’ll have a few pieces and a goal, like capturing all of the enemy pieces. Your army moves like they would in vanilla chess, but they can also access special abilities such as those showcased in the trailer above. The game is coming along beautifully, and you can see for yourself by downloading and playing the demo (for Windows, Mac, AND Linux). Chess Heroes has been Greenlit, so it’ll be out on Steam at some point. I’m looking forward to it!
Chesster, which is being developed for tablets, is a tile-matching game with a chess theme. You drag and drop pieces onto others in an effort to match 3 or more, and to make “combos”, which are special arrangements of pieces, such as surrounding a queen with knights. Hopefully the combos will become intuitive over time, but you can always call up a list of them with a tap. Some levels throw extra hazards into the mix, and some are straight-up puzzles in which you have to achieve a specific goal with a limited set of pieces. Overall, the game looks to be a polished and engaging puzzler, though it seems like a lot more match-3 than chess.
Gigachess (Windows)
Well, I had Gigachess on on my list of games in development, but as I was writing this, developer Gigatross (awesome name) dropped a launch trailer and a December 15 release date. I advise you to add it to your wishlist now because Gigachess is a heady rush of chess-based strategy and tactics. The basic idea is that you have a customized group of knights, rooks, and bishops and they have to hold off a descending horde of pawns that are trying to get past you. You’ll get power-ups to help you hold your ground, like explosives and the almighty “queen-up”. It’s a tense game and the pressure’s always on. When you need a break from the endless assault, you can stretch your brain around Puzzle Attack mode. Also, I really dig the game’s 16-bit art style (especially the pixel explosions); it feels like a lost Super Nintendo classic. Note that an earlier version of Gigachess is available on itch.io.
I’m sure I’ve missed some worthy chess-likes, so don’t hesitate to inform me in the comments!
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