I play chess every day and randomly saw this pop up on pre orders in December 2025 so I screenshotted it so I wouldn’t forget. It came out today and I had to check it out. From the opening menu screen and brilliant old school sound design I knew I found a gem but was curious how a shotgun could fit into an already perfect strategy game like chess. Turns out…It always needed a 12 gauge. It’s got some of the funniest dialogue I’ve seen in a game and I’m weirdly invested in the story. Combat is super satisfying and it’s just a super well made strategy game. If you love chess and you’ve wanted to blow up a horse that’s threatening a checkmate but can’t…now you can. I’m gonna struggle to return to chess having experienced what it’s like to use a BOOM STICK on those pesky traitorous white pieces. FOR THE KING!!!!!!!

A perfect combination of rougelike mechanics, strategy, difficulty, and of course chess!No this isn’t how you play real chess but with many achievements, shotguns, difficulties, secrets, and a few other game modes, you just might never run out of fun!Though I warn everyone, and not in a negative aspect: if you reach rank 10, then be prepared for a very difficult game! Overall, I love this game and those with a love for chess, strategy, rougelike or even just one of these should try this game.Oh, and if you combine the final countdown card with an undercover mission or a spy, select countdown reversal, activate the countdown, and don’t kill any piece when it activates, you’ll get an achievement!

I reinstalled and now works fine. 5 starsI like the game a lot and it’s easy to play and easy to pick up and learn and try new strategies. However, there does seem to be some glitching with the music and also it’s hard to get out of the app without accidentally moving your character. Furthermore, the game resets constantly, and I have to do the tutorial over and over again.

The game is a fine take on the roguelike genre. Very replayable, interesting choices once you get your head around the gameplay. Losses really feel like it’s your fault and not simple RNG, which is satisfying.There’s a few small UX issues when playing on mobile, like differentiating between moves and attacks when you have long movements available. However, my main issue is the lack of a save file mid-run. If you close the game for any amount of time you will lose all progress and have to start anew. A pretty frustrating feature on mobile (where play sessions are shorter than PC) – would probably give it 5-stars if they fixed that.