Shatterboard

ShatterBoard is chess where every capture is a small spectacle.

The rules are the rules of chess : nothing about how the pieces move has been touched. What changes is the staging. When a piece is taken, it does not simply leave the board: it is struck down, and each theme has its own way of doing it.

Free, in your browser, no account, no ads.

Three themes, three ways to fall

Classic — The tournament board. Nothing more. Turned ivory pieces, and a captured piece is toppled: knocked off its square in a puff of dust.

Fantasy — Old wood, gold and runes. Metal figurines on a stone board inside a rampart, lit by firelight. A goblin swings its club, a centaur plants its lance, a mage casts from across the board, a golem hurls a rock, an elven queen draws her bow — and the old king calls down lightning. What they hit is consumed by fire.

Medieval — Stone, steel and siege dust. Men-at-arms on the worn flagstones of a castle yard: a footman with a two-handed spear, a mounted knight, a keep full of archers, a war bishop with a mace, a warrior queen, and a king who fights for himself. What they hit is cleaved in two.

In Fantasy and Medieval, the six pieces of a theme each attack in their own way: some close in and strike, others never leave their square.

When a king is checkmated, he knows it : one drops his sceptre, the other surrenders his sword.

Three ways to play

• Against the computer — three levels, from forgiving to stubborn.
• Two players, one screen — the board turns to face whoever is to move.
• Online — create a room, send the six-letter code to a friend, and play. The game goes directly from one browser to the other.

Online games come with a private chat, a rematch that swaps sides, and a two-minute grace period if someone’s connection drops.

Good to know

• Languages: English, French and Spanish. The game picks yours automatically; you can change it from the menu.
• Desktop game. Touch works, but the interface is too small for a phone for now.
• No sound yet. It is on the roadmap.
• Online play is peer-to-peer, with no relay server. On some restrictive networks (certain company or mobile connections) two players may not be able to reach each other; the game says so when it happens.
• Nothing is stored. No account, no tracking, no saved conversations. Your theme and language are remembered in your browser, and that is all.

More to come

I'll add more themes, each with its own way to take a piece. And if you have ideas about themes you want to see, let me know in comments