Once a Pawn a King
Release date: Aug 18, 2025
Developers: Clover Bite
Publishers: Clover Bite
Genres: Indie, Strategy, Early Access
Categories: Single-player, Family Sharing
Supported languages: English

Once a Pawn a King is a roguelike, turn-based strategy game with party-building mechanics, where chess meets chaos. Venture into the ever-shifting castle of the evil White King on a quest to rescue the beloved Black King, who was recently taken by the tyrant. The white king has changed the rules - chess is no longer the symmetrical and structured game it once was. Broken boards, strange tiles, soulless duplicates of pieces, asymmetrical action economy, and most importantly - there is no black king. Assemble a party from chess pieces and enhance their strength with unique power-ups and ability upgrades. Search for the missing members of the original Black King’s army and work to rebuild it Where is the black king? Why did the world start to crumble? Why do you keep reviving? With the aid of quirky characters and various talkative chess pieces, uncover the secrets of this realm and fight to restore its balance. With each new run, the layouts of both the map and the rooms change, as the White King continuously alters his designs. Choose different paths, face different encounters, and make different decisions regarding piece enhancements. Complete quests and unlock boons to become permanently stronger, making each run a little easier than the last