Chess is arguably the perfect game. Infinite possibilities exist in its 8x8 world full of knights and pawns that can move in the same directions every single match, but much like Tetris, there's beauty in its simplicity. Though a new game is now aiming to add a possibly sacrilegious amount of complexity to the classic formula by turning it into a roguelike, as is basically mandatory for everything else in the world by now (poker and The Last of Us included.)
Passant: A Chess Roguelike "changes all the rules" that have been around for well over a thousand years. "Progress through challenging rounds while collecting powerful pieces and game-changing items to seize victory," the game's Steam blurb explains.
"Build your board by earning powerful pieces with unique rules, items to change the tide of battle, and badges that can twist all the rules to deliver victory. Beat match after match of increasing difficulty until you can beat the final boss and become a grandmaster," it continues.
The game looks absolutely bonkers, too. I wouldn't expect to see explosions and zombie pieces and poisoned squares a la Dark Souls in any chess game, but alas, here they be.
Even if you're a seasoned chess pro, Passant seems like a fun little challenge since most matches have extra victory conditions apart from simply checkmating your opponent - you might need to deliver six checks or take out all possible enemy pieces to nab a win here. Plus, in between rounds, you'll be spending in-game cash to buy mutant pieces and items. There's also apparently 125 modifiers to change things up.
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