WizardChess

Almost every single piece has hidden rules. Most permanent buffs can't be seen until you accept them, then you have to write it down on a notepad or external file, because the game won't keep track of it. You can't reject “rewards” - which means your army can get weaker pieces forcefully inserted, or you have to erase permanent buffs and replace them with weaker ones. Sometimes the enemy gets multiple moves for no reason. There's no way to see temporary buffs or debuffs, beyond that they make the piece stats look funny if they exist at all. There's a hint of a promising game here, but the game being 90% hidden info, despite supposedly being a strategy game, is awful. Also, the optimal strategy is to pile every single buff onto a single mobile unit. Then it just becomes an unstoppable force that kills everything and can’t be hurt in return. So to add onto everything else, the balance basically doesn’t exist. It’s a shame too, there’s some real charm here. If information wasn’t hidden, you could reject rewards, and there was some kind of limit to buffing singular pieces, then I reckon it’d be great. But since I’m pretty sure it’s no longer being updated, that’s not going to happen…

*WizardChess*, developed by TwoPM Studios and published by 2 Left Thumbs, is a deliberately chaotic reinterpretation of chess that abandons the idea of strict rules and perfect information in favor of experimentation, randomness, and layered systems. While it borrows the language of chess—grid-based movement and unit positioning—it quickly becomes clear that this is something entirely different. Instead of memorized openings and predictable outcomes, the game thrives on unpredictability, blending tactical decision-making with roguelite progression and a surprising amount of mechanical variety. The foundation of the gameplay lies in controlling units across a board, but these are far removed from traditional chess pieces. Each unit comes with its own abilities, movement patterns, and quirks, creating a system where understanding individual roles becomes just as important as positioning. The sheer variety of units ensures that no two encounters feel exactly the same, but it also introduces a level of complexity that can be difficult to grasp at first. Players are constantly learning, adjusting, and experimenting as they encounter new combinations and interactions, making adaptabilit…

Fun during my mechanics of solids class

This is a fun little tactical battle roguelite. I don't know why it calls itself 'chess' as it's not chess-related in any way but the most abstract "all tactical games are a bit like chess" kind of manner, but that's okay. You buy new units which are listed as cards, but it's not a deckbuilder, it's a tactical game. The art is very basic, but units are visually distinct and the camera is easy to control. The music is an unexpected jazzy sort of lighthearted theme that I found I rather enjoyed, certainly not like anything else in the same area. My one major complaint is that you can't save and exit mid-run, runs aren't all that long but it's still something important to be able to do. My minor complaint is that every time you end up back at the title screen it gives you the 'enable/disable diagnostics' menu again, why. Because I'm on Steam Deck? Anyway. It's fun, probably a good sale or bundle buy.

They made a tactical game that I wouldn't like, but called it Chess so I'd buy it all sale.

1/10 Half the time it puts you in a genuine no-win position from the very beginning and there's just nothing you can do about it whatsoever you don't get to choose which units you bring into a round (???????), and the game ACTIVELY TRIES TO GIVE YOU USELESS UNITS SO THAT YOU LOSE (it gave me 4 0 attack 1 health chickens and since i was out of sacrifice spots there was nothing i could do when i HAD TO go into the next round with three completely useless units and 1 gimmick unit immediately ending my run) There are CONSTANT CONSTANT CONSTANT bugs & crashes, even ruining my first final boss run WHEN I WAS 1 TURN AWAY FROM WINNING They never added misclick protection and your cursor isn't your cursor, there's an in-game selector and that's what it's selecting with BUT IT DOESN'T FOLLOW YOUR CURSOR INSTANTLY SO IF YOU CLICK ON A SQUARE BUT THE IN-GAME SELECTOR HASN'T CAUGHT UP YET IT SENDS IT TO THAT SQUARE (AGAIN, THEY HAD TO ACTIVELY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO PROGRAM THIS IN TO SCREW YOU OVER)