Really Bad Chess

Noodlecake

Contains adsIn-app purchases

About this game

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


------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

Ratings and reviews

Seems fun! Maybe? Really really needs to show what pieces the AI has captured. It's way too hard keeping track of all the random pieces when you only see your own captures. Feels like playing in the dark w/o that. Like "shrug, I won't remember it anyway so who cares?" 🤷‍♂️ . And then it's just random chaos. Plenty of room for that under the Moves count 🤷‍♂️

Pretty meh. Super low effort put into the game design. It's fun but a lot of it makes no sense. Like there being no draws, but you get penalized for surrendering even if all the opponent has is their king left. Could be better, but I play it pretty often now.

UPDATE : They finally fixed this app. it's now working again. Solid game, 4/5 for how long it took them to fix the issues. OLD : Don't even consider this until there's a fix. Recent update made the game completely unplayable. been playing for years, now suddenly it's unplayable and has been for something like a month with no communication from the Dev. Now the board doesn't reset after a win or loss or surrender, it just resets to the move before you won or a few moves back.

What's new

Additional bug fixes