A Clever Chess-Based Strategy Game Is Free Right Now On Epic Games Store

"There's only so much you can do improve on chess, but you can at least make it a whole lot weirder. That simple fact led to the great Really Bad Chess in 2016, and now, a more recent spin on one of the most-played games in the world is available for free for a short time on the Epic Games Store for mobile. This time, it's an even bigger deviation from its origins, turning chess into a turn-based roguelike strategy game that's just as bizarre as it is captivating."

"In Shotgun King, you play as a mad tyrant fighting to put down a rebellion in his dominion - the chess board. With his own subjects, in the form of other chess pieces, all turning against him, the king takes up a shotgun to take down his would-be usurpers alone. It's a knowingly silly premise that has a lot of fun with the medieval trappings of chess, while brilliantly blending the rules of chess with a roguelike structure that makes each run unique."

"Every game of Shotgun King begins with your megalomaniacal monarch at one end of the board and an assortment of opposing pieces at the other. Each piece moves like they do in a standard game of chess - bishops move diagonally, rooks move in straight lines, and the fearsome queen can move in any direction. As the king, you can move to any adjacent space, but not if doing so would put you in check. Unlike your typical game of chess, though, you also have a shotgun on your side."

Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate transforms chess into a turn-based roguelike strategy game where the king fights a rebellion on a chessboard. The king can move one square at a time and wields a shotgun instead of capturing pieces normally. Opposing pieces retain standard chess movements—bishops diagonal, rooks straight, queen omnidirectional—creating familiar movement rules within a novel combat system. Each run changes board composition and challenges, blending medieval chess trappings with roguelike unpredictability. The game was developed by Punkcake Délicieux, a small team with a varied indie catalog and previous hits.

Read at Inverse