Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure (Chess)
TL;DR A game of chess and chess-puzzles, with an extremely high-cliché fantasy theme. Quite engaging, highly-polished and very enjoyable.
Full Review
I discovered this title by accident, but wow… what a surprise! I quite like chess, but it does tend to be a) quite clinical and b) too difficult. This game, however, fixes that! Chessaria comes with a quick-play mode against the computer with a few chess variants (standard chess, plus some asymmetric variants and other unusual scenarios). It also has a multiplayer mode, that lets you play against friends online. And then there is the “Adventure” (the single-player campaign). The Adventure takes you on a journey through the land, and presents 100 varied and engaging chess puzzles (and the occasional full game of chess).
– Real player with 53.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Chess Turn-Based Games.
Disclaimer: I received this game for free, full disclosure on the full Review
Video Review:
On Steam I was browsing and saw someone had a game called Chessaria on a wishlist or had just purchased it. I took a look because I’m a fan of chess. Maybe not the biggest fan but I’ve played over 100 games on lichess.org (my profile page) and more elsewhere, so I know what I’m doing. Chessaria brought back memories of when I first got into computer chess and promised tactical puzzles with Chessaria: The Tactical Adventure. Alright, it had my attention.
– Real player with 14.8 hrs in game
Chess: King of Crowns Chess Online
The developers of this game take much pride in the hard work they put forth into making sure the game is stable, steady and runs without hiccups.
They are always ready to solve issues and really make this game worth what it is.
The support is immeasurable!
thank you king of crowns chess!
I appreciate all that you’ve done for me, keep making games :)
– Real player with 35.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Chess Turn-Based Tactics Games.
Activation keys are not working!
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Kings Gauntlet: Chess Revolution
Kings Gauntlet: Chess Revolution is a 1v1 chess-inspired action game where you shoot at your opponent to summon pieces on the board.
Pieces can move as they would in chess, they will try to crush any opposing king or piece that crosses their path.
As the match goes on, stronger pieces will be available for summoning, until the queens bring chaos on the battlefield.
Real Time Battle!
Shooting the enemy king will fill your gauge. When the summon gauge is filled, you can deploy a chess piece on the board!
Place them strategically and quickly dash around the arena to dodge opponent pieces!
Rush for glory!
Crowns will spawn around the arena now and then, gather three of them to use your special ability.
Powerful abilities!
Use your special ability to fire a special bullet that converts every enemy piece on its path, turn the tides in your favor and checkmate your opponent!
Key Features
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Online and local 1v1 multiplayer!
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Unique customization possibilities!
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Multiple characters with unique abilities!
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Strategic and deep gameplay!
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Powerful pickups!
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A unique and fresh take on the oldest game in the world!
Read More: Best Chess Multiplayer Games.
Mad Chess
What is it?
Mad Chess is a chess variant where players can play the same game of Chess they know and love, but this time, with 7 additional factions dropped into the mix. Checkmate the enemy king with one of eight armies at your disposal, each with their own unique pieces, abilities & flavor. Now with 36 matchups instead of 1, a whole new chess universe awaits!
Eight Factions
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Humans: Use the classic chess army that you all know with long-ranged units. (Hero)
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Mermaids: Bring the ocean with you by covering the chessboard with water. (Geomancer)
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Angels: Discover unusual movement capabilities & situational invincibility. (Paladin)
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Dragons: Gain bonuses upon having your units captured by the enemy. (Necromancer)
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Vampires: Consume your own troops to gain momentum & disturb enemy units. (Warlock)
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Fairies: Protect your archers to capture enemies without moving from afar. (Ranger)
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Yetis: Use devastating beasts that can capture more than 1 unit per turn. (Barbarian)
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Aliens: Wield advanced technology to control time & gain additional turns. (Time mage)
Key Features
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Adventure: Play a campaign of 40 missions to help Prince Madop vanquish the Silver Demons from his realm.
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Versus: Play local games against an AI opponent or another player.
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Multiplayer: Play public or private games online against other players with custom rules.
Join our community on Discord: https://discord.gg/gfyhKcq5DA
Chesstle
Had this on my radar for a while and picked it up this sale along with a (pro chess player) friend and I wasn’t disappointed. Took a match to get the hang of the mechanics (a quick tutorial or the guide being accessible in-game would’ve been nice) however it was hella fun beating on each others units and winning. I’ve never beaten my friend in chess before.
10/10 would beat professional chess players again
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
What an interesting twist to chess, I went ahead & started to play thinking it’s chess with characters. Soon to realize there is much more to it. After reading the guide I played again & really loved it. I love the special abilities each piece has (Mage/bishop can trade places with another; Archer/Rook can attack over pieces). Player gets two moves one to move & another to attack. The attacks cause damage & don’t outright kill units.
If you are a defensive chess player like I am with slow opening & building to endgame, well it’s time to leave your inhibitions aside & get your Queen/Champion in to the arena & hammer away.
– Real player with 1.6 hrs in game
Chronicles of Magic: Divided Kingdoms
I enjoyed a lot about this game, and it is nicely put together with all the usual Artifex Mundi polish.
It was fun, and while I wouldn’t want to pay the full Steam price, I’m happy I got it on sale.
I liked both the protagonist and the secondary characters., and the scope of the game.
The setting was good, and I found myself wanting to know “what really happened”, even thought the basics were evident reasonably early on.
That said, there are some downsides:
The magic system - again - was under-utilized and building the spell was literally a connect the dots exercise. Connect the dots should not count as a mini-game. I would have preferred fewer spells,and a chance to use them with increasing difficulty levels (option to skip for purely casual play).
– Real player with 18.2 hrs in game
More of the same Hidden Object gameplay you’ve played many times before with all the same flaws.
It’s also the same story that seems to be repeated often in this genre. Your weirdly creepy looking son gets kidnapped and off you go on another magical adventure. Maybe try something different ?
The gimmick this time is you get to use some magic spells at various points but it doesn’t really amount to anything more than a very basic join the dots. The bulk of the puzzles are also carbon copies of other games in the genre. Forge the thing, Brew the potion etc. The only real difficulty is the same too, finding all the meta items for achievements and the misidentified items and hidden objects themselves.
– Real player with 9.4 hrs in game
Pawnbarian
I often feel like roguelike deckbuilders use a wide breadth of cards in their game to distract from the fact the core gameplay loop just isn’t all that satisfying. So, enter Pawnbarian, a game that doesn’t let you change your cards at all between characters, all you can do is add one of a few different upgrades. Strips away all the noise and gives you satisfying, thoughtful gameplay from the moment you start a run to its finish.
What it delivers is an experience that reminds me of Into the Breach, but with movement/attacks that vary from hand to hand. Calculating out the perfect route through the board to get a few pick offs and avoid damage is incredibly satisfying. Each turn feels like a tight geometric puzzle. The different characters really do feel like different beasts entirely. The titular Pawnbarian gains a lot from getting past the enemies to the final rank, the Knight Templar gets more actions by using more knights, and the Shogun uses pieces inspired by Shogi, which are often a little weaker, but he backs them up with an AoE ability he can power up by killing enemies.
– Real player with 25.8 hrs in game
I was privileged to win a copy of this early via Esty’s Misfits giveaway on Twitch (@Esty8nine) - delighted, because I was salivating over this from the ads!
The game is very much as it appears: use your moves optimally, learn opponent moves, build your army, and try not to die of Blight. It’s one of those puzzle strategy games you could open, mess around with for a bit and close again. I’ve since found the 2019 free demo, and it’s true to that- though extra time & development has gone in to make user experience satisfying.
– Real player with 14.5 hrs in game
Dota Underlords
It is with a heavy heart that I write this review, because at 217 hours of game-play at the time of writing, I have invested a lot of my time into this game. I’ve played since the first publicly available build, so feel I have enough experience to critique this and its development as time has gone on. And for anyone wondering I capped out at Lieutenant IV, hardly a rank to sniff at.
I enjoy this game, I really do, when the game goes right it hits that sweet spot so well and you come away with a shiny new rank knowing you were the best of the best in that game.
– Real player with 278.6 hrs in game
I wish I could recommend this game. I really wish I could. But I feel like Valve took an idea they didn’t create, and without properly knowing what was good about that idea took it in their own direction, which ended up ruining what I enjoyed about the game. I played entirely too much of this when it was in beta, and I enjoyed every minute of it, even when things weren’t entirely balanced. The polish Valve put on the game with the interface and coding was just miles above the competition. Perhaps its better now, but TFT wasn’t even a game when Riot released it. I feel Valve had a great head-start on the competition, but I feel they’re ruined it, and while I don’t have access to player numbers, I get the feeling those would back up my claim.
– Real player with 240.9 hrs in game
Chess Evolved Online
The developer is clearly insane, and there are numerous horrific flaws that I assume will never be fixed ever. The good news is that it takes a while for the true gravity of those flaws to start affecting you, and until then you can enjoy this game a lot.
Here is a small sampling of some of the terrors of the past, although they may be gone*, they surely portend of more great sorrow in the future:
1. Turn one checkmate was once possible. Yes it is as bad as it sounds. Although it could be staved off by simply covering ever square within a 3 square radius of your king.
– Real player with 752.7 hrs in game
Chess Evolved Online is an extremely frustrating game to play, and not for the right reasons. While it has an incredibly compelling base for a game and that is fun for a long time, you eventually get to a level where, at the highest rankings (I am currently in the top 50 as of this review, rank ~4400), you are forced to play only the most boring stally armies or lose a lot of rating because of effective RNG where other armies hard-counter your pieces.
So while I am giving this game a positive review out of support for being much better than most games out there, it still feels dreadful to play due to developer incompetence.
– Real player with 565.3 hrs in game
Pawn of the Dead
Nice change on chess games, waiting for new scenarios
– Real player with 5.7 hrs in game
If you’re a chess fan, don’t miss Pawn of the Dead. New rules totally reinvigorate the game (but the original’s still there if you want it). Campaign is a series of 64 challenges but as if that wasn’t enough there’s also an arcade-style “queen vs zombies” mode.
You probably have to be a chess fan to enjoy this, but if you are, this is mindblowing. Features a campaign with 64 challenges, a “queen vs zombies” mode, 2p mode and both classic and zombie rules.
For more niche curation, follow me at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27440015-CSH-Picone/
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game