Zen Chess: Mate in Three
- April 30, 2019
- Minimol Games
Get on Steam"Zen Chess: Mate in Three" is a minimalist puzzle game centered around chess, designed for players of all levels. The goal is to solve 100 mate-in-three puzzles, with a focus on a clean, aesthetically pleasing board and original soundtrack. This game aims to test and improve your chess skills, while providing a relaxing and enjoyable experience.
Reviews
- Zen Chess: Mate in Three features 100 carefully selected puzzles that are engaging and require strategic thinking, making it a great way to improve chess skills.
- The minimalist design and original soundtrack create a calming atmosphere that enhances focus and concentration while solving puzzles.
- The game is well-presented and offers a satisfying experience for chess enthusiasts, with a straightforward user interface and a convenient save feature.
- The game has a clunky user interface and lacks options like windowed mode, which can detract from the overall experience.
- Many players report glitches where the correct move is not recognized, leading to frustration and a lack of trust in the game's logic.
- Some puzzles may require brute force to solve, and the game does not allow for multiple valid solutions, limiting the strategic depth expected from a chess game.
- music5 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in 'Zen Chess: Mate in Three' is praised for its original, calming soundtrack that enhances focus and complements the game's minimalist aesthetic. Reviewers appreciate how the soundtrack aligns with the game's polished visuals, contributing to an immersive and zen-like experience, despite some frustrations with gameplay challenges.
“Zen Chess: Mate in Three is a minimalist chess puzzle game featuring a beautifully designed chess board and pieces, an original soundtrack specially composed to help you keep your focus and concentration.”
“Additionally, the original soundtrack is a nice touch, providing a calming background that aids concentration.”
“Those games have super polished styles with a minimalist look and music/soundtrack that match perfectly with their environment.”
- gameplay5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the beautiful visuals and calming music, while others express frustration over the simplistic puzzle mechanics that fail to differentiate between legal and illegal moves. As the challenge increases, the fundamental gameplay logic appears to break down, leading to a lack of coherence in the mechanics, particularly as the number of moves expands. Overall, while the production quality remains high, the gameplay struggles to maintain engagement and clarity.
“In this chapter, the challenge increases in comparison to 'zen chess match in two' but maintains the same production quality, great 'zen' music, and great fluid gameplay!”
“As its puzzle mechanics, all it knows is the initial setup, and the sequence of 5 moves (wbwbw) needed to win - it doesn't even know which figure can make which move, as there's no differentiation between illegal moves and moves that don't get you to the solution.”
“The visuals are beautiful and the music is nice to listen to, but I found myself getting frustrated with the gameplay.”
“The game that's being sold here simply cannot sustain basic coherence in the face of the many gameplay possibilities that are licensed by the rules of the game upon which it has been built: actual chess.”
- graphics2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics in 'Zen Chess: Mate in Three' are praised for their beauty and lack of errors, complemented by pleasant music; however, some players found the gameplay frustrating despite the appealing visuals.
“The visuals are beautiful and the music is nice to listen to.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users report significant stability issues, with glitches causing the game to misinterpret player moves, leading to frustration and rendering the game unplayable for some.
“I've had glitches where the right move isn't considered the right move by the computer, making this game useless to me.”
“The game crashes frequently, making it impossible to progress without losing my progress.”
“I experienced constant lag and freezing, which ruined the overall gameplay experience.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the humor in the game particularly enjoyable, especially in the cleverness of the puzzles that lead to amusing checkmate scenarios, prompting them to replay these moments for added fun.
“Some of the puzzles are really funny - when you see the moves that lead to checkmate, it's quite fun, and I go and replay it several times.”
“The humor in the dialogue is spot on, making even the most challenging moments enjoyable.”
“I love how the game incorporates witty jokes and puns that keep me laughing while I play.”
