Brawl Chess – Gambit is a right-to-the-point digital version of Chess. If you enjoy Chess but hate physically setting up the pieces, this $9.99 download will make your life a little easier although the lack of options is disappointing.
You can check out my stream of Brawl Chess – Gambit embedded below:
The gimmick behind RedDeerGames’ virtual board game is the Adventure Time-like cartoony visual aesthetic. Visually, the game might look like a Saturday morning cartoon but the gameplay can still be rather serious especially on the higher difficulty settings. There are five settings for the opponent AI, ranging from beginner to “the robots are taking over Judgement Day” difficulty so players of different skill levels should find something component here. Unfortunately, Brawl Chess assumes you already know how to actually play Chess as there is no tutorial or any type of “how-to” at all. In fact, other than the adjustable difficulty and selecting from one of two playable piece sets, there are no additional options whatsoever. You don’t even get fighting animations when pieces clash. Local multiplayer is great but without an option to play online, there is little replay value. The worst part is the paid DLC structure. If you want to play as a different character with new art, it is locked behind a $1 pay wall.
The marching horn musical track isn’t so bad but players are better off blasting a favorite playlist over a Bluetooth speaker due to repetition. Pieces also move instantly which keeps the speed of gameplay as fast as possible but also can be difficult to distinguish which piece moved where. If you are not closely paying attention, it is possible to get a little confused when trying to plan your next move.
Brawl Chess – Gambit is the most straightforward, no options version of Chess you can find. Although you can find a Chess set for a couple bucks at your local Dollar Store or even the free version built into Windows, laying down a Hamilton for a digital version of this classic game with zero options or settings, with odd paid DLC, is a little hard to justify.
Also available on Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X.
Also Try: playing pass-the-console multiplayer Gameboy Chess
Don’t Forget About: Chess on your high school graphing calculator
Wait For It: Chess 2: Chessier
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
Rating
Our Rating - 5
5
Total Score
A no nonsense Chess sim with literally zero options or gameplay features.