Passant: A Chess Roguelike

About

Passant: A Chess Roguelike is a single player casual turn-based strategy game. It was developed by Marc Makes Games and was released on August 11, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Passant is a chess roguelike. Gather powerful pieces, items to win unwinnable games and badges which can provide power-ups and change how the game is played.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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81%

Audience ScoreBased on 268 reviews

gameplay4 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

Passant: A Chess Roguelike offers a fun and inventive twist on traditional chess, making it accessible even for novices.
The game features a variety of unique pieces and mechanics, allowing for creative strategies and chaotic gameplay.
The developer is highly responsive to feedback and actively works on updates, enhancing the game's overall experience.

The AI can be predictable and often stalls, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
Some pieces and mechanics feel unbalanced, making certain strategies overwhelmingly powerful and diminishing the challenge.
The game's visuals and interface could use improvement, as they can hinder gameplay clarity and enjoyment.

gameplay
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
65%
15%
The gameplay is characterized by innovative mechanics that offer a fresh take on traditional chess, incorporating unique pieces and multiple victory conditions that enhance excitement and strategic depth. While some players appreciate the chaotic and puzzle-like nature of the game, others find the transition from classic chess challenging and criticize the overall game feel and user interface. Despite these mixed feelings, many agree that the gameplay is engaging and encourages players to improve their skills.
- “Good mechanics and fun ideas for a new take on chess.”
- “Gameplay-wise, I really like the attempt to balatrize chess; multiple victory conditions make it very exciting and give you the feeling that you could reasonably come from behind in a match, which is a big deal.”
- “It adds creative new mechanics and fairy pieces, both novel and based on popular chess variants, which you'll discover and combine over a series of chess matches against increasingly difficult opponents who also have nontraditional setups.”
- “It was hard to get used to the mechanics that differed from traditional chess.”
- “Here, the graphics significantly hinder the gameplay experience.”
- “I hesitate to call it the 'balatro' of chess even though it's definitely influenced mechanically by it, simply because the vibe is a little unrefined.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
37%
38%
The graphics of the game are generally criticized for being underwhelming, with many users describing the art style as "placeholder" and the UI as "minimal." These visual shortcomings are seen as detrimental to the overall gameplay experience, leading some players to express a desire for a graphical overhaul before considering a purchase. Despite these issues, there is recognition of the game's fun potential, akin to "balatro."
- “I'd like to hover over it and see that graphic blow up or zoom in.”
- “Need better visuals, music, and a few tweaks but potential to be as fun as Balatro.”
- “Here, the graphics significantly hinder the gameplay experience.”
- “If the game ever receives a graphical overhaul, I will strongly consider purchasing it.”
- “If I could change one thing, it would be to clean up the visuals a little.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as a blend of hilarity and chaos, with players finding amusement in the unconventional chess pieces and their historical anecdotes. While the game offers entertaining and unique strategies, the complexity can lead to overwhelming chaos that detracts from the fun. Overall, it successfully combines humor with strategic gameplay, resulting in both amusing and aggravating moments.
- “Hilarious, aggravating, and fun all in one.”
- “I don't know how that happened, but that was funny!”
- “There are some hilariously strong builds.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
Passant: a chess roguelike offers significant replayability through its diverse modifiers, unique piece interactions, and various board setups, making each playthrough feel fresh. However, the lack of online multiplayer and balance challenges may limit long-term engagement, with some players noting that the initial games are more enjoyable than the later ones. Overall, it provides a solid starting replayability, though it may not sustain interest indefinitely.
- “Passant: A chess roguelike is a bold and inventive reimagining of one of the most studied games in history, taking the rigid structure of chess and deliberately bending it into something fluid, unpredictable, and endlessly replayable.”
- “The sheer variety of modifiers and piece interactions gives Passant remarkable replay value, but it also introduces balance challenges.”
- “You play against the AI only; it doesn't have online multiplayer, but it has a bunch of cool new chess pieces and unique board setups you can choose from that offer a lot of replayability.”
- “But don't play this game looking for a ton of replayability.”
- “You play against the AI only; it doesn't have online multiplayer, but it has a bunch of cool new chess pieces and the unique board setups you can choose from that offer a lot of replayability.”
- “The sheer variety of modifiers and piece interactions gives the game remarkable replay value, but it also introduces balance challenges.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The music in the game is generally described as relaxing and enjoyable, with some players expressing a desire for a more engaging soundtrack and improved audio-visual elements. However, there are technical issues, such as music continuing to play after closing the game, indicating a need for refinement. Overall, the potential for a captivating musical experience is recognized.
- “The music is relaxing.”
- “The game music is still playing even though I closed the game already.”
- “There's potential for the music to be as fun as Balatro.”
- “Also, somehow the game music is still playing even though I closed the game already?”
- “Need better visuals, music, and a few tweaks, but potential to be as fun as Balatro.”
- “I'm a sucker for a banger soundtrack, and if I had a little more eye and ear candy, I would have zero notes here.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and time-consuming, often requiring a significant investment of time for minimal rewards. Many describe the experience as monotonous, with late-game scenarios devolving into repetitive exchanges that lack strategic depth. Overall, the grinding is viewed as a major detractor from the enjoyment of the game.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “The achievements are extremely grindy and boring.”
- “Instead of spending 30+ minutes analyzing every move and opening, late games just become a battle of attrition, where I mindlessly blunder one of my pieces into one of theirs and we take turns trading pieces one at a time until I ultimately end up with the only queens on the board and do some tedious cleanup/checkmating afterwards.”
story
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game lacks a narrative component, with users noting that there is no story present.
- “There is no story to speak of.”
- “The game lacks any meaningful narrative.”
- “The storyline is completely absent.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a strong emotional response to the game, often feeling overwhelmed or frustrated, particularly in relation to their own perceived inadequacies in skill, which can heighten feelings of self-doubt and vulnerability.
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization is not centered on high scores or multipliers, but rather on the player's desire to improve and progress, making it engaging and addictive despite its challenging nature.
- “I may not be the best at this game, but that's part of the fun for me. It's not addicting like other games that focus on high scores and multiplier optimization; instead, it's addicting because I genuinely want to beat it and progress. To achieve that, I find myself playing over and over again.”

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Passant: A Chess Roguelike
€11.79
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25h Median play time

20h Average play time

10-30h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Passant: A Chess Roguelike is a casual turn-based strategy game.

Passant: A Chess Roguelike is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 20 hours playing Passant: A Chess Roguelike.

Passant: A Chess Roguelike was released on August 11, 2025.

Passant: A Chess Roguelike was developed by Marc Makes Games.

Passant: A Chess Roguelike has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its graphics.

Passant: A Chess Roguelike is a single player game.

Similar games include The Ouroboros King, Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate, BALL x PIT, Slice & Dice, SpellRogue and others.

Passant: A Chess Roguelike

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