8-BIT CHECKMATE
Pixel-art chess for iPhone where every capture becomes a short anime duel: a VS screen, a signature strike, an impact frame and a dramatic defeat.
COMING SOON TO THE APP STORE
FEATURES
Anime capture duels
Each piece attacks in its own way. Black always strikes from the right and White from the left, like a fighting game. Tap to skip, or set cutscenes to ALL, KEY or NONE.
Three rivals
Tito, the eager apprentice pawn. Luna, the calm star bishop. Kage, the relentless shadow knight. Each one reacts to your moves.
Real chess
Castling, en passant, promotion, stalemate, repetition and 50-move draws, dead positions and time forfeits, following the FIDE Laws of Chess.
Clocks for every pace
Bullet, blitz, rapid and classical time controls with increments, or no clock at all. Undo is available in untimed games.
Pass and play
Play a friend on the same iPhone, or practice against the computer.
Eleven ways to end a game
Checkmate is never the same twice: the crown pops, the king turns to pixel dust, blasts off in a rocket, gets sucked into a vortex, freezes, is beamed up by a saucer, struck by lightning, floats away as a balloon, or the TV switches off. There is even an arcade "continue?" countdown.
Many ways to fall
Captured pieces are sent flying, drop through a trapdoor, burst into pixels or turn into ghosts, so even long games keep surprising you.
Retro look, your way
Pixel art drawn entirely in code, with an optional old-TV filter with scanlines. Pass and play, clocks, undo in untimed games and Game Center sign-in are built in.
Accessibility options
Reduce Motion removes shakes and flashes, and a colorblind palette changes both colors and marker shapes.
LEARN, FROM YOUR FIRST MOVE
A path of short lessons
Tito, Luna and Kage teach how the pieces move, check and checkmate, and tactics like forks, pins and skewers, with hands-on exercises, hints and stars. Each chapter ends with a boss game.
Puzzles every day
A daily puzzle, endless training and a puzzle rating that grows with you, using thousands of positions from the open Lichess database.
Free, plus one optional purchase
Games, all puzzles and the first two chapters are free. The Full Path is a one-time purchase that unlocks chapter 3 and every future chapter. No subscriptions, no ads.
SIGNATURE STRIKES
| Piece | Attack | |
|---|---|---|
| Pawn | Charges with a spear and leaps diagonally, just like a capture on the board. | STAB! |
| Knight | Rears up, gallops in and tramples the victim flat. | TRAMPLE! |
| Bishop | Raises the crozier, opens a seal of light and calls down a diagonal beam. | AMEN! |
| Rook | Loads a bomb on the battlements, lights the fuse and lobs it. | BOOM! |
| Queen | Draws her sword, blinks around the victim three times and sheathes it with her back turned. | SLASH! |
| King | Three heavy steps, then the scepter grows and comes crashing down. | CRASH! |
NO ADS. NO TRACKING.
8-Bit Checkmate has no accounts, ads or tracking. Games, lessons and puzzles work offline. Read the privacy policy, or get in touch on the support page.