Chess

Genre: Board Game

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the bundle Board Games along with Checkers and Snakes & Ladders.)

The plainly-titled version of Chess from Sabec, released on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2020, is… well, it’s chess, alright.

In terms of presentation, this game uses 3D visuals for its board, pieces, and surroundings, and these are fairly decent, except for the fact that players aren’t given free control over the camera. They can zoom in and out, change perspective to the other side of the board, and lock the camera in place so it doesn’t follow the cursor (yeah, it actually does that), but can’t control the angle or rotate it in any way. Oh, and when it comes to music, there’s some light instrumental music in the main menu, but nothing in-game.

Of course, the gameplay of chess is timeless, so when talking about the gameplay what we’re really talking about is options and interface, and this version of Chess actually does a poor job with both.

When it comes to options, players choose whether to play against an AI or local human opponent, whether they’re white or black, and if they’re facing an AI they’ll choose one of four difficulty settings (the first being a complete and total dunce), and that’s it. There’s no online play, no tutorial, no ability to gauge skills against opponents of a simulated chess rank… heck, there’s not even an option for newer players to take back moves.

Even the game’s controls are lacking, as players must use the analog stick to guide a slow-moving cursor to pieces they want to select, and then slowly guide it to its destination. At the very least I can say that the touchscreen controls here work like a charm, but that really shouldn’t have come at the expense of functional gamepad controls.

On top of all of this, the game sells at the standard price of $10, which is outrageous for a version of chess this feature-poor. Yes, the game regularly goes on sale for $2, but even that price doesn’t make this game a great deal, and besides, if Sabec wants to try to game the eShop to boost their sales numbers, I’m going to go ahead and review their game as if it’s full-price, and at full-price, this game is an absolute rip-off.

If you’re looking to get a chess game on Nintendo Switch, there are better options than Chess. Yes, even if you’re looking for something cheap. Yes, even if you want something simple. This game’s simple name may imply those things, but in the end all it really amounts to is a lazy and sub-standard iteration of the classic Board Game.

tl;dr – The simply-titled Chess is a poor version of the classic board game, with a lack of standard options, awkward controls, and a bad camera. You have better options on the Nintendo Switch.

Grade: D

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