Build a customizable chess army, load it with absurd buffs, and let your pieces wreak havoc. No king, no mercy, just pure mayhem.
What happens when you strip chess of its king, hand players upgrade slots and items, and encourage rule-breaking? You get Just Chessing Around. The game keeps the familiar silhouettes of pawns, knights, rooks and more, then hands you a toolbox to turn them into absurdly powerful combatants. It is chess by way of chaos, with custom pieces like The Plague Doctor and Jerry joining the fray.
The core hook is simple and addictive. Pieces are upgradable mid-run via buffs you collect along the way. You have five buff slots to populate as you go, and these modifiers radically change how pieces behave. Examples from the developer include rooks that can ram through anything and knights that can roam nearly the entire board. Those two changes alone can turn familiar opening theory into a demolition derby.
Buffs are not just incremental power increases. They alter movement and combat logic, encouraging creative builds. Slot management matters: do you strengthen a single flagship piece or spread buffs to make an entire army unpredictable? That choice is the backbone of the game loop.
Just like Mario Kart, you can equip up to two items and deploy them when it suits you. Items range from bombs to potions that summon ghost pawns, letting you change the tide mid-fight. Items add another layer of tactical surprise, letting you catch opponents off guard or clear a path for a buffed unit.
Because items are limited, their timing becomes tactical. Use a bomb to break a chokepoint, or drop a potion to flood the board with temporary minions. Combined with aggressive buffs, the item system amplifies the game's chaotic possibilities.
The game keeps the board fresh by putting players into different rooms, each with its own environment and hazards. Some rooms have grass that hides what piece sits in it, while others contain quicksand that can swallow your units. There are minibosses with their own armies to topple, and full boss battles to punctuate a run.
These environmental twists force you to adapt. A build that shreds through one room might flounder in another, which pushes experimentation with both buffs and items. It also reinforces the game's core idea: chess tactics matter, but so does improvisation.
All the classic chess pieces are present, alongside custom additions like The Plague Doctor and Jerry. Each unit has personality, using emotion bubbles to convey what they think of your actions. That small touch keeps the battlefield lively and gives character to even the most absurd strategies.
Pieces feel distinct not only because of their visuals but because buffs can fundamentally change how they act. A knight that roams broadly feels like an entirely new class, and a charging rook becomes the kind of tool you build an army around.
Just Chessing Around is clearly built for players who enjoy tactical systems and also like tearing those systems apart for fun. It blends familiar chess forms with roguelike progression, items, and environmental hazards to create something both recognizable and unexpectedly wild. If you like the idea of crafting broken, personality-driven armies and seeing how far you can push them, this one looks worth a spin.
Reader opinion, not Steam's tags. Shown publicly once 3 people agree.
DemonSlime is the pen name of Kaan Hamarat, an indie game enthusiast who enjoys discovering creative projects from small studios. Kaan Hamarat covers new releases, developer updates, and the ideas behind memorable indie games.
Strategy · Simulation · Casual
Indie
Simulation · Adventure · Casual
Simulation · Casual
Strategy · Simulation · Action
