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

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.

Like I've seen others mention, the most recent update completely broke the game. UPDATE: seems like they've finally addressed the bug making the game unplayable, though they've also introduced a few more issues. Now the computer AI behaves differently and tends to repeat the same moves over and over, even when there are no other possible moves for me, resulting in an unnecessary stalemate that forces you to surrender, even if both players have multiple pieces still on the board.

Echoing another comment recently that an update has broken the game. I've submitted a ticket but have not received any response, not even a boilerplate message that it's a known issue they're working on. Edit: on January 18th, a month after submitting a ticket I received a response claiming that the issue was resolved. I gave the app another try, but it's still not resolved. Edit 2: the app seems to be partially fixed now, but major issues remain. It's astounding how a company be so bad.

What's new

Additional bug fixes