Same chess. New rules
- Gambonanza demo playable during Steam Next Fest
- Over 150 Gambits twist classic chess into roguelike strategy
- Smaller boards and reserve systems push faster matches
Chess has been around long enough that I’ve honestly lost count of how many times developers have tried to twist it into something new. Mobile, especially, seems to encourage that kind of experimentation, and Gambonanza feels like another attempt to pull the board apart and rebuild it into something stranger.
It’s currently showing up during Steam Next Fest with a playable demo, with eventual mobile and PC launch planned for later this year.
Instead of traditional matches where the king is everything, Gambonanza pushes you to clear the entire board. Every run revolves around stacking Gambits – more than 150 of them, that bend the rules in ways that feel closer to a card roguelike than classic strategy.
Some supercharge specific pieces, while others alter turn order or reshape how the board behaves. There’s a definite hint of that Balatro-style “what happens if I break the system a little more?” energy running underneath it all.
Boards start smaller here, which changes the pace straight away. You’re not settling into long, drawn-out matches. It’s more about spotting quick opportunities, moving pieces around with intent, and figuring out when to hold something back.
That off-board reserve system plays into it nicely, too, letting you stash extra pieces and drop them in later when the board starts looking a little too predictable.
The presentation goes for a retro pixel look with a faint CRT-style haze over everything, mixed with weird little side activities pulled from pachinko and gachapon ideas. It doesn’t really treat chess as something sacred; instead, it twists the familiar rules into a strategy sandbox that just happens to use chess pieces as its language.
And if you’re curious about what else is brewing before launch, it might be worth checking out our list of the best soft launch games on mobile.
