Checkmate Challenge
Release date: Sep 1, 2023
Developers: Erik Fast
Publishers: Erik Fast
Genres: Strategy
Categories: Single-player, Family Sharing
Supported languages: English

Checkmate Challenge is a chess arcade game where you play against the strongest chess engine in the world. Starting positions are procedurally generated with different structures and piece odds to make it a fair fight. Every time you deliver checkmate, you get extra time. The goal is to survive as long as possible and rack up points. Before the game starts, you select a difficulty (Easy, Medium, Hard, or Magnus) and a time control (3, 5, 10, or 15 minutes). After every win, loss, or draw, in addition to giving you a time bonus if you won, the game adjusts the difficulty depending on the result. This always gives you new and interesting problems to solve. The difficulty will also increase over time, so even the most experienced players will face a challenge as the clock winds down to zero. On Easy mode, you might start with queen and rook odds. On Magnus mode, you might only start with a rook against a minor piece. Since the engine is set to maximum strength, it will never pull any punches. Watch out for tactics as you convert winning endgames under time pressure!