ChessCraft

About

ChessCraft is a single player and multiplayer casual strategy game. It was developed by Stuart Spence and was released on December 16, 2021. It received positive reviews from players.

Play your chess variants against the AI and your friends online.

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86%

Audience ScoreBased on 740 reviews

monetization28 positive mentions

stability6 negative mentions

Highly creative and customizable chess game allowing users to create their own pieces, boards, and rules.
Enjoyable adventure mode that introduces new chess variants and challenges players to think differently.
No ads and free to play, with responsive and active developer support.
Strong AI with multiple difficulty levels, providing challenging gameplay for beginners to advanced players.
Shared-screen multiplayer and online private games available for social play.
Wide community and editor features allow extensive sharing and creation of custom chess variants.

Frustration due to frequent draws/stalemates counted as losses, preventing progression in adventure mode.
Board and piece creations sometimes disappear or fail to save, causing loss of progress.
AI can behave inconsistently, sometimes making illegal moves or allowing draws when players have winning positions.
Limited customization options for piece moves and board sizes restrict some advanced chess variants.
User interface is sometimes clunky or unpolished, with controls occasionally glitching or being unintuitive on mobile devices.
Online matchmaking is lacking; currently only private rooms available without public matchmaking or ranked play.

monetization
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
4%
42%
Users overwhelmingly praise the game's monetization model for being completely free with no intrusive ads or microtransactions, enhancing the overall experience. While some mention occasional prompts to support a "patron" upgrade and minor issues with cross-device purchases, the lack of forced ads and fair pricing are seen as rare and commendable features. The generous customization and content come without paywalls, making it a standout in its category.
- “Chesscraft is the best chess app in the Google Play Store because it has no advertising, no microtransactions, and unlike most games that let you create, you don't have to earn anything—it is all just there!”
- “A great game with no ads, no predatory monetization, and an enormous wealth of campaign mode puzzles and creative options.”
- “No ads, fun to play, hundreds of modes, offline capabilities—one of the best apps I've ever played.”
- “Edit, an account to keep track would be helpful actually as I found out buying the "patron" upgrade to support and end the ads doesn't track across devices, and if I try to buy it on the second device it fails.”
- “Edit: as of now I found that the game keeps giving you ads to join the patron, I would appreciate it if there was an option to disable that as I don't have intent on joining the patron.”
- “Ad, I mean, I'm ok that the ads are not like 30 seconds long, but $5.99 for an ad-free option, can you just change to $3.99 or $2?”
gameplay
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
53%
14%
The gameplay is praised for its creativity, challenging variants, and accessible mechanics rooted in casual chess, with a strong emphasis on customization and sandbox-style board creation. Although the experience is generally enjoyable and promotes fresh chess perspectives, users report bugs, clunky basic mechanics, and some undesirable features like "ghost" levels. Overall, it offers significant potential and fun gameplay but could benefit from bug fixes, UI improvements, and additional balancing tools.
- “It can appeal to all ages due to its roots being connected to casual chess while integrating some complex new mechanics in new pieces.”
- “You can make your own boards with these pieces with their own mechanics.”
- “Chesscraft is the best chess app in the Google Play Store because it's easy to understand the mechanics, has no advertising, no microtransactions, and you don't have to unlock creation features—they are just available.”
- “Overall, it's a 4.3/5 as the UI could use some improvement along with the basic mechanics which feel kind of clunky to me and many others.”
- “Pros: customizability and lots of variants. Cons: diminishes my battery surprisingly fast. Suggestions: fix that, add more icons (maybe the icons from a text RPG named GrimQuest can give you some models to add), add a checker attack mechanic, add timer, add analysis if possible, and probably add material value for pieces made via AI calculations to help balance stuff more easily.”
- “I do not like the ghost piece mechanic and there are way too many ghost levels.”
graphics
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
Users generally find the graphics functional but somewhat basic and in need of improvement, noting a somewhat childish or blocky style reminiscent of Minecraft. Many suggest enhanced customization options, including the ability to upload custom artwork and graphical updates, especially for menus and overall aesthetics. Despite these critiques, the graphics are considered adequate and do not hinder gameplay, with some seeing potential for future polish and enhancements.
- “The graphics are awesome, and kinda like Minecraft, you know.”
- “Could use a little more polish (in the visuals at least).”
- “Amazing game, my only suggestion is being able to create your own piece graphics.”
- “I think it needs a bit of work on the aesthetics mostly but this game certainly has potential.”
- “Could add an online multiplayer feature, and it needs an overhaul on its graphics.”
- “The graphics looks childish and the 'creation' is limited.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
90%
10%
Users find the game's humor particularly enjoyable, highlighting the funny and creative gameplay elements as well as the developers' witty responses to negative reviews. The humor enhances the overall experience, making the game amusing and engaging even for those reading critiques.
- “As a long-time chess player, this is a hilarious and fun game.”
- “Great game :] Read the bad reviews as a time-saver because it is hilarious what the devil has to put up with.”
- “Unrelated to the topic, but the developers' responses to the 1-star reviews are really funny.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
62%
The story mode in this game is well-received for its engaging quest-style missions that help players sharpen skills and unlock customizable boards, pieces, and backgrounds. It adds depth beyond traditional chess by encouraging creativity and strategic thinking without intrusive ads. Some minor interface issues on mobile devices were noted, but overall, the story mode enhances the gameplay experience significantly.
- “But this app has all that and the ability to play against a bot who understands all the rules instantly and a story mode that lets you unlock boards, pieces, and backgrounds.”
- “No ads, an entire story mode, piece customization... it's got everything!”
- “In addition, the quest-style missions allow me to sharpen my skills, while new ways of playing force me to brainstorm newer tactics.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers a creative and enjoyable experience, but its stability is hindered by frequent glitches, crashes—particularly in the board maker—and buggy features like premoves and the chess school. These issues detract from smooth gameplay and prevent a higher rating.
- “I love this game and the ability to make your own boards and game pieces, but the reason for 3 stars is because the game freezes and crashes my phone when I am using the board maker.”
- “When you select the pawn it glitches and doesn't let you find it again.”
- “The concept is really cool and the execution isn't bad by any means, but the game is just way too buggy to get a 5 star rating.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding in adventure mode is considered excessive, requiring repeated playthroughs at higher difficulties to earn enough points or gems to unlock levels and gates. Many players find this repetitive and tedious, suggesting that the costs should be significantly lowered to reduce the grind and make progression more enjoyable.
- “Adventure mode is grindy, forcing you to replay levels on higher difficulties to get enough points to unlock all of the levels in the first place.”
- “Personally, I'd also prefer all games being open from the start, because grinding for gems gets boring real quick.”
- “The gate costs in adventure mode need to be reduced massively to make it even feasible to complete the campaign without hours and hours of grinding.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Users praise the game's music as brilliant and enjoyable enough to inspire creating playlists, but some note issues with odd timing and express a desire for more in-game music.
- “I also found all the music and made a playlist on Spotify.”
- “Brilliant game and music.”
- “One complaint though is the odd music timing.”
- “Needs more music during the game.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Replayability is somewhat limited in the adventure mode, as only the first two regions remain accessible after completing the initial challenges. However, the game offers high replay value similar to chess, providing engaging strategic depth.
- “Chess but it has even more replayability.”
- “This cuts the adventure portion of the game really short, as only the first two regions are playable after you beat all the first level games.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is generally excellent, with smooth performance overall, though there is some room for minor improvements.