Review: WizardChess (PC) – That VideoGame Blog

I’ve always had a soft spot for a good tactical adventure, especially when it comes to turn-based strategy games. There’s a comforting nostalgia about them, yet when crafted skillfully, they manage to stay exciting and new. The fundamentals usually remain consistent across different games, but each one typically introduces unique mechanics that make it stand out. Today, we’re diving into something that’s reminiscent of chess—though it isn’t quite that. Let me tell you about my experience with WizardChess. I’ve definitely been enjoying parts of it, but there are a few elements leaving me scratching my head, starting with the name itself.

WizardChess is something of a distant cousin to traditional chess. While your units on the board move and attack similarly to chess pieces, that’s about where the similarities end. This game carves out its own identity with its distinctive strategy elements, making it feel very different from chess. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing, but if you approach it expecting a chess experience, you might find yourself confused, or even a bit frustrated.

Upon starting WizardChess, you’re tossed into a dungeon with encounters that lead up to a tutorial boss, stretching across several rounds. While the tutorial is quite comprehensive, it’s essential for grasping the rules. The game features a variety of unlockable units, and understanding their functions and strategic implications is crucial for success. However, the tutorial doesn’t save your progress. I found this out the hard way, as I had to abandon my progress when I needed to quit. Feeling too impatient to start again, I jumped into a different mode, Arcade, which turned out to have a completely different vibe.

In WizardChess’s tutorial mode, the pacing is methodical. You play your units from collected cards and can take your time to strategize, though you’re limited to moving one unit per round, making positioning key. Some units have special abilities that can be activated at the expense of movement. The battles resolve automatically once units are placed next to each other. While restarting from scratch was less than ideal, I enjoyed the pace once I grasped the mechanics.

Switching over to Arcade mode was like stepping into a whole new world. Here, you begin with a set number of units already on the board, and you’re up against the clock, trying to defeat opponents before a boss appears. Between rounds, you can head to the shop to buy new cards or upgrade existing ones. However, the currency feels limited, which means upgrades come at a slow pace. This forces quick decisions—not a good fit for traditional turn-based strategy enthusiasts who prefer to think several moves ahead. The limited rounds and currency pressure make shop decisions doubly crucial.

What’s intriguing about the Shop in WizardChess is that it lets you choose between adding new units or enhancing the stats of ones you already have. While boosting your roster looks tempting, it’s often wiser early on to focus on expanding your array of units to have a fighting chance against bosses.

Adding to the strategic depth, units can be imbued with elemental characteristics. Choosing an element like fire will make a unit more aggressive, while water boosts defensiveness. This gives you greater control over units you’re not directly commanding in a given turn, tailoring their behavior to match your strategy.

I wish I could report that I conquered my first Arcade Mode boss, but truth be told, I got thoroughly trounced. Each encounter left me feeling woefully underprepared, and as your hero plays more of a support role without attacking capability, losing all my units left me helpless. The main vibe of WizardChess feels centered around this Arcade Mode, but it quickly became quite frustrating.

WizardChess seems like it would benefit from a campaign mode. While the tutorial hints at a promising story with intriguing characters, the lack of a saveable campaign mode means there’s little room for narrative development. This title seems catered for short play sessions, where the fun lies in seeing how far you can get in a single run. The game’s appeal might not hold as strongly over extended playtime.

The game’s controls are straightforward—point-and-click simplicity. However, like chess, each unit has specific movement patterns, which can feel awkward within the real-time strategy framework. Navigating terrain obstacles adds to the complexity, and coupled with the timed nature of gameplay, this can slow you down, clashing with the format’s fast pace.

Overall, WizardChess leaves me conflicted. Perhaps I just need more time to familiarize myself with its intricacies, or maybe skipping parts of the tutorial left gaps in my understanding. If I’ve misjudged due to inexperience, I apologize. The combination of chess mechanics and real-time strategy offers intriguing potential, but they don’t quite sync harmoniously here—at least for me.

Despite its quirks, WizardChess’s ambition deserves appreciation. I see what the developers are aiming for, and it’s undeniably interesting. If this clicks with you, you might find it delightful; but for now, the mechanical dissonance might send me looking elsewhere for my strategy fix.

In a nutshell, WizardChess is a commendable attempt with lots to like. Yet, aside from its lack of narrative depth, the game feels unsure of its identity, as if juggling too many ideas. Those cool concepts are there, but they sometimes clash. While WizardChess might attract a devoted niche, I’m not convinced it holds lasting appeal for the broader strategy fan base.