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[woodsmoke]

A chess-like game where you fight against dungeon monsters.

Download new test version

[woodsmoke]

I forgot : The main thing I'd like to know is if it's too easy/hard.

[woodsmoke]

The game is way more juicy now with cool sound effects, and colorful chess piece skins.

A new test version has been uploaded with a random level generator.

(You change the colour of your chess pieces in the options screen. Press "B" in-game to switch the chess board style.)

[CypherCove]

I'm kind of confused about how the game works. How many moves do I get per turn? It seemed to be inconsistent. I would also suggest that the enemy automatically move. It took me a while to figure out that it's up to me to advance the enemy's turn.

[woodsmoke]

Thanks for the feedback.
You can move all your chess pieces during your turn, but don't have to.
After the enemy moves (right click) you can move all your pieces again.

The first level in campaign mode will show how to play:
"Move pieces" is plural. Is this enough info?

There will also be a help screen in the main menu which will look sth like this:

EDIT:
I uploaded a new version
A signifier now shows when a piece has used it's move.

[Giant_Gamer]

This idea is quite fun. As a chess player in my High School chess club, and then later as a volunteer to a group of home school elementary and middle school aged kids, I think the teaching aspect of this game is reasonably good.

Now I do have some minor nit picks, so hopefully this feedback is helpful in some way. I know that the monsters have an icon over their heads that say how they will move. But I've been having a few issues with inconsistent, and unexpected movement on the enemy turns. Occasionally they move/attack in a direction away from the king, and sometimes they attack the pieces perpendicular to the king's direction.  (mostly the spiders in level 2) Now I understand that most of the time randomized behavior is good for games, but it clashes with the nature of learning chess, predictability and knowledge of where an opponent can move is critical.

For example: in 2-2 I used the same strategy that won in 2-1, but it took 3 tries to finish 2-2 because of perceived random and unexpected behavior. On my 3rd try, the enemy AI fell in my favor, and I completed the stage. The dilemma is this... Did I learn the correct method for completing the stage or did I just win a series of dice rolls? This nagging question slightly devalues the educational value of how the game works, and by extension chess.

I stopped on my 7th attempt on stage 2-3 (or 2-4) to give my feedback. I was wondering if you would agree that possibly adding a mechanic that would draw a circle (and then applying the circle from the enemy to the squares they might effect) would be of use to the player on the first few stages that particular foe is introduced. This would help reduce the number of times I get surprised and unknowingly sacrifice my rooks and queen to goblins, and purple blobs.

I think the idea of Chessmen Vs. Non standard movement foes is interesting, but to achieve the desired balance of order and chaos is quite a tall order. But the potential of greatness is already visible in the game already.

I'll be taking another stab at the game later tonight.
G_G

[woodsmoke]

Hey man! Thanks for the feedback, and sorry for the late reply. That idea with the circle is pretty good. I'll see if I can implement that. This is not really meant to be educational, but I guess you can learn basics like chess pieces moves. There will be random luck moments in this game, I won't be changing that because it's more of a fun type game than deep strategy. Some times a teleporting ghost will just randomly eat your king (1:128 chance every turn).
 

I've made alot of progress since I last posted.
Most visible:
- smooth enemy movement animation
- front-on view of enemy (same as the chess pieces)

[redredred]

I got sold on the idea immediate just from the screenshots! I'm giving this a whirl when I get home :D

[Artsicle]

Wow, fun!