Really Bad Chess is just like chess, but with totally random pieces. Try 8 Knights, 4 Bishops, and 3 pawns — why not? As heard on NPR's Weekend Edition 5 out of 5 Stars "An essential puzzle experience for anyone even remotely interested in strategy games" - TouchArcade Whether you play chess daily, or quit just after learning the rules, this small twist will open the door to an entire new world of chess. ------WHATS IN THE “BOX”? The free version of Really Bad Chess lets you compete vs. an AI in Ranked, Daily, or Weekly Challenges. Improve your skills using the included Freeplay mode. A single in-app purchase unlocks Versus Mode so you can compete against your friends locally! It also removes ads, displays captured pieces, and adds soothing alternate color-palettes to choose from. ------REALLY BAD PRESS "Makes chess fun even if you’re really bad" - The Verge "Feels more modern than chess has ever felt" - Applenapps "Really Bad Chess takes a really bad idea and somehow manages to make it a lot of fun." - Pocket Gamer "Really good fun" - MacLife ------A WORD FROM THE DEVELOPER Chess is one of those games I always wished I enjoyed, but its commitment to beauty, elegance, and perfect balance always turned me away. Really Bad Chess removes these boring restrictions and flips chess on its head. As much as random pieces change the game in some ways, I was really surprised to notice how much the game remains the same, and how powerful some pieces are — you've never truly struggled against a pawn until you've struggled against a pawn in the back row. For chess pros, Really Bad Chess will give you a new type of challenge — the pieces & the moves are the same, but you'll have to throw out your openings and your understanding of normal patterns of play. For novice chess players (like most of us), Really Bad Chess greatly opens up the game. Instead of starting by studying openings, in your first games you'll get to discover the joy (and challenge!) of learning how to checkmate. I hope you have as much fun with Really Bad Chess as much as I did making it. -zach
Chess minus memory plus monetization
“Don’t be afraid to use undos!” I’d rather not waste time or money on a trash game
United States46, 46, 46, 46, 46…
I’ve started each morning with this game for years. The rank of the boards used to vary. Lately it’s almost always 46. Still beatable because the AI opponent plays weaker as the game progresses, but I preferred it when the range varied from 37-50.
United StatesI HATE this game
If you are looking for a game to turn you into a rage serial killer, this is for you. Even if you are mediocre at normal chess it won’t matter, the computer on any level gets so many bishops it doesn’t matter and no matter what you do you are annihilated almost immediately. The daily games are set at the hardest level so unless you are Bobby Fisher no chance whatsoever, it’s over in 10 moves. You never ever ever ever have the advantage. You will get stuck with pawns and knights while the comp gets bishops and rooks and queens. This game fills me with enough rage to burn down my house. Suicide would be more fun. I hope the creator chokes.
United StatesObnoxious
Just another ad viewing platform at root. The ways in which you are forced to watch ads are obnoxious. You don’t respect me, I don’t respect your game. Uninstalled.
United StatesAmazing concept
Removes knowledge about openings , positions from a matchup with others. Levels the playing field.
United StatesFun twist on a repetitive game!
Chess is fun the way it is. In its purest form, it’s a symmetrical game. But in this variant, you’re given a random set of pieces against a computer opponent that’s actually beatable for once. I do admit that sometimes the boards are a bit unfair, but that’s okay. I’m on rank 75 and plan to keep going for a bit. If I were to give advice for this game, it’d be this. In levels below 50, always look for bishops aiming at knights, other bishops, rooks, or queens, and immediately take them, even if you may lose your own in the process. When you’ve ascended to ranks 50 and up, throw all that out the window because you’re now at a disadvantage. You may benefit from defending your own pieces and coming up with plans so that your computer opponent doesn’t start trading. (I’m not a chess expert by any means, but these tricks seem to help me in this variant.) It won’t throw you into these higher levels, though. You’ll start at rank 15, at a massive advantage, and the game will slowly start to let go as you improve, and even stack the odds against you if you get good enough. You go up ranks for winning, but descend if you lose, and the amount you go down for losing is around 2 or 3, which seems like a lot until you realize that you go up around 5 for winning, so losing a few games isn’t the end of the world. Once you break even at rank 50, the daily boards, once taunting you, out of your grasp, are no longer a match for you. And at rank 70, you’ll no longer be intimidated by the much more difficult weekly boards. I like the weekly boards because while they’re harder, you get unlimited attempts at them (unlike the daily board, where you only get two, making every day a potential streak-breaker.) While playing against an AI opponent is intimidating, as computers have a reputation for absolutely destroying the best grandmasters, the computer in this game is actually very forgiving! It may play extremely well at first, but if you survive long enough, it will eventually let go and give away a few pieces, allowing you to steal the win. But of course, eventually the computer will see a mistake, and will happily take your undefended queen. And while you may have two more, I recommend stocking up on undos, which can take back your last move, and are available in a five-pack at the extremely low price of a 30 second ad. It may be annoying to watch ads, especially since there’s a skippable one after every match, but I’d recommend just stacking up on undos (there’s no limit) by watching ads for long periods of time to save up tons of undos so you don’t need to do it for a while. If you’re in the middle of the game and suddenly realize you need more, the game automatically saves, so you can take a break to replenish undos, or just close the game and take a break. It’s low-commitment, so if some unexpected event pops up, you don’t have to resign. When you get back, you can reopen the game and get right back to it. It’s the little features that are the best in this game. And I’m going a bit off-topic here, but I really love the color of the numbers. Your daily streak, weekly streak, daily board score, and rank are all given a special color, and there’s something about it that just makes me inexplicably happy. It starts at green, then gradually cycles through the rainbow, seemingly heading towards red. It’s just the right amount of unnecessary but definitely beautiful and welcome decoration in a minimalist game. However, while I have been talking about this game like it’s the best thing in the world, I do have to say: if you’re looking for a flashy game with tons of animations, this isn’t it. The pieces move instantly, and there’s no “checkmate” animation. It’s more for minimalists who just come to play a new version of chess. In fact, the only way you can really confirm a checkmate is noticing the absence of haptics when you make the move. There are no draws. A stalemated player loses. However, since there’s no threefold repetition or 50-move rule, you may end up in a situation where you do need to resign to end the match. There are tons of leaderboards, and while everyone has a chance to reach the top spot, there are many people on the leaderboards, some of which are really great at the game, so expect a long-term steeply uphill battle if you’re looking to shove your way up to the summit. One thing I think is missing in this game that I think is important is under-promotion, promoting to a piece besides a queen. While you may want to promote to a queen most of the time in this game, as there are no draws, under-promotion is still a fundamental part of chess strategy, and there are definitely times where promoting to a knight would help you more than a queen, for example. Honestly, I’ve been playing chess a lot, and I love the game, but I like to play this variant to freshen things up once in a while, and see chess for what it really is—a game.
United StatesCring
AI can’t be set to lower or higher difficulty To many micro transactions The stupid “there are no draws”
United States
bug fixes
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