Freedom Forge
In development · Early beta

Chess Brawlers

Chess, where every capture is a fight.

Ask about the beta See the screenshots
Chess Brawlers: the duel camera close on a werewolf in a red shirt punching a leaf-hooded woodland pawn, with a clown and a row of dinosaur-costumed pawns watching from the graveyard board behind
The game

What Chess Brawlers is.

Standard chess played by two fantasy armies, starting with adventurers against the undead on a dungeon board. The rules are exactly chess. The difference is what happens when a piece is taken: the camera drops in, the attacker closes the distance, and the capture plays out as a short duel.

  • Every piece fights its own way. The knight dashes in with daggers, the queen throws a spell, the rook swings a two-handed axe. One tap skips a duel, and they can be set to fast or off.
  • A campaign ladder of five opponents, from the Squire, who gives pieces away, to the Lich King. Beat one to unlock the next.
  • Free play against any of them, as either side, with a clock, undo and hints. Or two players on one device, with the board turning to whoever is to move.
  • Choose who you play as and who you face: adventurers, the undead, orcs, woodland folk, a vampire's night crew, robots or a winter workshop, on a board to match.
  • Prefer plain pieces? Swap the armies for a classic chess set, or float the chess symbol over every piece.
AndroidiOSTouch: tap or dragPortrait or landscape

On Android the opponent is Stockfish, an open-source chess engine (GPL-3.0) run as a separate program.

Screens

Chess Brawlers, as it runs today.

Chess Brawlers: the duel camera close on a werewolf in a red shirt punching a leaf-hooded woodland pawn, with a clown and a row of dinosaur-costumed pawns watching from the graveyard board behind
Chess Brawlers: a capture played out as a duel, a werewolf striking a woodland pawn on the graveyard board
A graveyard board at night: a vampire, a witch, a werewolf and a clown facing an army of skeletons, with green dots on the squares the selected werewolf can move to
Fright Night against the Undead on the graveyard board, a werewolf selected with its moves marked
A board in a forest clearing: a druid, a ranger and plant creatures facing green orcs led by a black knight
The Wildwood against the Horde in a forest glade
A board on red ground between space-base modules: robots, a mech and a space ranger facing an army of orcs
The Machines against the Horde on the Mars base board
A red and white board in the snow: elves, a toy soldier and frost golems facing a vampire's army, with a decorated tree beside the board
Winter Workshop against Fright Night on the winter board
The Chess Brawlers title screen: the name in gold over the dungeon board, with Campaign ladder, Free play, Two players, Settings and Credits buttons
The Chess Brawlers title screen over the dungeon board: Campaign ladder, Free play, Two players
Contact

Want to play it early?

Email hello@freedomforge.dev with your device and what you play, and the person who built it will read it.

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