Chessarama, a casual indie puzzle and strategy game from Minimol Games, will officially launch on Xbox and PC via Steam on December 5th, 2023. The launch date was revealed alongside a new trailer, which teases some cozy worlds and gameplay.

In Chessarama, players must progress through a campaign of over 100 puzzles. These are built on 8 different zany minigames inspired by traditional chess, such as Soccer Chess and Dragon Slayers. There are also figures to unlock, challenges, and leaderboards to climb.

There’s currently no word on other console ports. You can watch today’s new release date trailer on the official Minimol Games YouTube channel:

There are already quite a few indies with chess-inspired games, but most of them feel either too self-serious or too cartoonish. The cozy, diorama worlds of Chessarama appears to strike a fine balance between the two. It looks far removed enough from proper chess that its minigames were free to become more imaginative.

Chessarama’s art design will immediately leap out at you, with polished visuals that are full of charm. They have a soft color palette, and the textures boast a hand-crafted quality.

This will definitely make the unlockable figures worth chasing. In fact, I’d be happy to collect these figures for an actual tabletop game.

Surprisingly, Chessarama’s official Steam page mentions that the game includes over 100 levels and over 100 challenges. Although it’s easier to develop more density in puzzle games, that’s still a lot of content.

Hopefully, the puzzles don’t lose their novelty, and continue to evolve throughout so many levels. I’d also like to see how the themed dioramas synergize with the puzzles themselves.

Alongside the leaderboards, it’s clear this was an ambitious project, and it has a lot of potential. The colorful, friendly, and minimalist approach should invite all players, even those who ordinarily avoid chess.

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