«Previous post | Next post»

Press release:
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 14th, 2023.
The Rio de Janeiro-based (Brazil) indie games developer Minimol Games are today very thrilled and proud to announce that their relaxing minimalist puzzle game “Chessarama” is coming to PC (via Steam) and Xbox (Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One) via digital stores on December 5th, 2023.

Prepare to reimagine chess as you never have before, with eight single-player variations of the classic board game that will force veteran chess aficionados to rewire their brains while also training new players to think like a chess master.

Chessarama is a smorgasbord of chess-inspired single-player games that use chess pieces and their established move sets, then reimagines their goals and themes. Choose a game, quickly learn its rules and play through the campaign, unlock collectibles, and compete against each other on the leaderboards. Endless replayability awaits you. Welcome to Chessarama!

Each game has its own theme, set of rules and original handcrafted levels for you to play! In Dragon Slayer, players must move a pawn to the end of the board where it can slay a mighty dragon, though the dragon attacks the board after every turn, obliterating any unprotected piece.

In the feudal Japan-set Lady Ronin, the chess Queen must eliminate every piece on the board in order to get close to the Shogun and assassinate them. And in Soccer Chess you must position your pieces in pursuit of kicking the ball into the goal. Try all these and several more original chess-inspired puzzle games in Chessarama!

“Chessarama is a chess player’s dream come true, offering creative challenges that will put your chess skills to the test,” said Raphael Dias, CEO and Game Director at Minimol Games.

“That said, Chessarama doesn’t require any knowledge of chess whatsoever, as each variant gently onboards players by offering gentle challenges before gradually increasing the difficulty. Casual players will have fun simply puzzling their way to the end, while more dedicated fanatics can really put their skills to the test by trying to compete on the leaderboards for solving a stage in the fewest number of moves.”

“Chess may be a timeless game, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be remixed and expanded upon in fresh and interesting ways,” said Ashley Ringrose, Studio Head at SMG Studio.

“Chessarama cleverly makes you rewire your brain, taking everything you know about how chess pieces move, then applying it to an all new ruleset with a wide variety of challenges. Your prior knowledge of chess may help you, but it won’t save you. Chessarama ensures that you’ll have to relearn everything you thought you knew about chess!”

Features:

Play 8 exclusive chess-inspired games available in Chessarama;

Puzzle campaigns featuring 100+ levels plus 100+ unique challenges;

24 exclusive Chess Figures to unlock and collect;

Unique art style, with beautiful dioramas;

Daily and Weekly Challenges;

Compete against each other on the leaderboards;

Learn chess movements, tactics and strategies through a modern video game experience;

Also includes “Classic Chess” for you to put your learnings into practice!

Minimol has also released more updates to its Dev Diary series, Checkmate Chronicles, that detail all the creative and artistic decisions that went into designing Chessarama. These include:

Shades of progress — Revamping our diorama colors in Dragon Slayers. This outlines how the dev team used color and shaders to create an increasingly intense, oppressive atmosphere as the game increases in intensity.

Chessarama redesigned: a peek into our new interface. This post examines all the subtle details that go into making Chessarama’s UI crisp, readable, and overall usable.

A Ronin’s vision — How the dioramas in Lady Ronin are produced? A look into all the aesthetic details that create the gorgeous, moody tone of feudal Japan.

Chessarama is partnered with Chess.com to be an official sponsor of the world’s top online chess tournament, Champions Chess Tour for the remainder of the 2023 season.

For more information on Chessarama:

Wishlist on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1831830/Chessarama/

Visit the Chessarama official site: http://chessarama.com/

Visit SMG Studio’s official site: https://www.smgstudio.com/

About Minimol Games
Minimol Games was founded in 2019 by Raphael Dias, a young Brazilian developer with a Ph.D. in Physics, who created the company with the mission of developing smart puzzles, beautiful dioramas, and innovative high-quality games. After launching 30 tiny puzzle games with over 250k copies sold – and an average positive review ratio over 85% – Minimol Games is developing their most ambitious title to date with Chessarama, a collection of original chess-inspired turn-based games with their own rules, dioramas and designs.

About SMG Studio
SMG is dedicated to producing games with original and licenced IP for all platforms. With studios in Sydney, Melbourne Australia and Los Angeles in the US.