Games Like ChessDeck

Chess moves. Card draws. No checkmate.

ChessDeck is a roguelike deckbuilder built on chess. You don't play a full game of chess. Instead, every turn you draw a hand of cards that spawn pieces onto your back row and move them up a small board using the movement rules of chess. Pawns are cheap and slow. Knights jump. Rooks and queens cross the board in one move, at a price.

Reach the enemy's row and your piece strikes the garrison holding that column. Clear the garrison to win the fight.

Every threat is on the board

Enemies show what they'll do a full turn ahead. You know which column gets hit and how hard. What you don't know is what you'll draw. The first piece in a threatened column takes the hit, so every turn you have to choose: push your strongest piece forward to attack, or keep it home as a wall.

Pieces protect each other

Real chess captures matter here too. A piece standing on a square another of your pieces covers gains guard and survives longer. A pawn chain is a shield. A lone queen is a target.

Losses are never free

When a piece falls, it leaves a Fallen card in your discard pile, and you'll have to draw it. Throw pieces away and your deck fills with the dead. Build a deck that turns that cost into strength, or one that never has to pay it.

Features