the contents

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ContentsChapter I

The
Journey

Start with your family’s chess set and build a team for the World Championship.

Walk, talk, battle, catch, grow
The Golden Seventh, a pawn from the collection.
The Golden SeventhPawn

On your eighteenth birthday, your father brings the family’s sixteen-piece chess set down from the attic and sends you off to become a Grandmaster.

From the first morning, someone is always one step ahead of you: a polite young stranger who knows where you will be and gets there first. He keeps, he admits, “a little calendar of you.” He plays you and carries on up the road, a little stronger each time.

The rival's opening battle, captured from the game: both starting armies ringed gold and blue, your six companions listed beside the board.
The mirror match: his father's black pieces against your father's white.
“I am always one step ahead lately — and it is lonely out in front, so catch up. When we finally play, I want your best.”A note left on Route 2, for whoever was good enough to find it

what you do

Walk, talk, battle, catch, grow

  • Walk

    Nine towns and the roads between them, with changing weather and a day-night clock.

  • Talk

    Everyone in town has something to say, and many of them teach you something about chess.

  • Battle

    Every fight is a full game of chess against Stockfish, and every opponent's strength is shown before you play.

  • Catch

    Wild pieces set you a checkmate puzzle instead of a fight. Solve it and they join you.

  • Grow

    Build a team with one piece of each rank. Level them up towards 70, fill the collection of 272, and win the Championship.

The Championship Gate medallion — a sigil-locked door between king and queen pillars, under aurora.
  • The Storm Crown, a king.

    king

  • The Crystal Court, a queen.

    queen

  • The Crystal Fortress, a rook.

    rook

  • The Quiet Geode, a bishop.

    bishop

  • The White Knight, a knight.

    knight

  • The Golden Seventh, a pawn.

    pawn

Your six-piece team and the Championship Gate.

the side stories

Thirty-nine side stories

People on the road ask you for things. Each step points you to someone else to find, and a handful end in a game of chess you have to win. They pay experience and Pawn Bucks, and some unlock things you would not find otherwise.

Four are quick errands, thirty cross several towns, and five are epics. Two of them:

  • The Cartographer’s GapVisit the three places marked unwalked in Fileena’s atlas.Finish it and the Route Map item starts working.
  • The Collector’s RegretA date farmer in Dunemarch is worried about his neighbour, who owns more boards and pieces than the rest of the town and has never opened a single case. Over the fence he asked whether a piece you caught looks at you differently.Finish it and the collector opens his case. There is a king in it.

The free demo includes Openfield and Frostford. Your save carries into the full game.

Wishlist on SteamPlay the free demo