War Chess

Defeat your opponents and lead your army to victory!

4.33 / 5 from 30 player ratings

BigFish

We're sorry but we are no longer able to offer a download for this game.

See more games you may like below, or browse retired games.

6.0FairDFG score

DFG Exclusive Review Summary

Better than average but has some noticeable flaws.

Pros

3-D game board that shows your pieces moving and fighting for you.
2-D game board incorporated on the screen to make the game easy to see and play.
10 different arenas (game boards) ranging from the Desert to the Forest and Ruins.
Rules of chess are clearly stated.

Cons

Tutorial does not give advice or teach you strategy.
Online mode is an option, but there is not a strong user base so finding a game is nearly impossible.
Even on an easy setting the computer opponent was pretty difficult.

Read Full War Chess Review

About this game

Fully animated, fantasy chess

War Chess sends you to a world where races of dwarves, elves, and people exist. Guide your troops through distant deserts, ancient temple ruins and other mysterious locations. Defeat your opponents and lead your army to victory in a gloriously rendered game of chess!

If you are a bit bored with the same old looking chess pieces, War Chess will fix that. When you capture a piece, you watch an animated battle. Each piece has different attack moves to vanquish your opponent. Not a bad way to add a little variety to such a great classic game.

Features

War Chess was released on October 7, 2004.
The game was developed by the Quebec-based developer of Artificial Mind and Movement, which is now called Behavior Interactive.
Other games by Behavior Interactive include WET, Naughty Bear, Doritos Crash Course, and Brave: The Video Game.
War Chess was released for the PC and Playstation 2.
This game has been downloaded from CNET over 30 thousand times.
Chess is one of the oldest and most widely-played games in the entire world. The earliest known variant was called chaturanga and it can be dated back to sixth century India.

War Chess Review

Review by Dylan

Chess enthusiasts might find this game's war theme to be something special, however, it leaves something to be desired. Based on just the title alone you might expect an intense battle based chess game. This element does exist, but it is not strong enough to set this game apart from others in the chess genre.

Basic Gameplay and Animated Features

War Chess is a 3 dimensional take on chess that has your pieces moving, fighting, and slaying one another. In the game you are matched up against a computer opponent. You choose from 1 of 10 different maps (Desert, Ruins, Forest), set the difficulty settings, and duke it out in an intense battle scenario chess match.

As you make moves on a 2 dimensional chess board in the top right corner of the display, your pieces which are 3-D figurines, move around the board. If your piece takes another piece there is a small battle that ensues, showing your character victorious. An example of this could be seen if the Bishop takes a piece. He uses a bow and arrow to shoot the opponent piece, and then he captures the position.

Same Basic Chess

Like any version of chess the objectives of the game are the same. The winner of the game is the one who captures the opponents King by putting it in such a position that it has no legal moves (this is called checkmate). In the event that neither player can possibly checkmate the other, the game is a draw.

War Chess is played on a standard 8x8 grid, giving it 64 game squares. There are 16 pieces for each player, 8 being pawns which have the most limited movements and the other 8 being specialty pieces that are more dangerous and have set legal moves. The more pieces you can obtain from the other player, the easier it is to place them in check or checkmate. This makes smart play (protecting your pieces from attack while acquiring pieces from your opponent) a crucial part of the game.

Learn the Rules But Not Strategy

If you have no chess experience or don't know the rules, there is no need to fret. War Chess has a tutorial feature that explains the rule of the game, the different pieces, and the moves the pieces can make. If you have never played before the tutorial is a great place to start because it gives you the basics of the game.

Despite giving the rules of the game the tutorial does a poor job of explaining the intricacies of strategy. The only way to improve your game is through trial and error and through playing opponents. There is no guide to teach you strategies, which would make the game more user friendly and overall a better game.

Hard to Find Opponents Online

The online mode this game has is lacking at best. It might have been great at one point and time, however, since new games are constantly coming out this older version has lost its online population. Good luck trying to join a game. There are almost no players online so it is nearly impossible to play opponents via the internet. This takes away from the game and makes it more limiting. Chess is not nearly as fun if you cannot play an actual person.

Conclusion - Interesting Animations, Not Much Beyond That

Overall, War Chess is a limiting chess game with an intense name. The features of the game and the 3-D battle scenes are not significant enough to make this game distinct from other chess games on the market. Also, the lack of a playable online mode limits this game to only computer opponents.

This game might be best for someone who needs to see 3-D battles while playing chess, or for someone collecting different chess games. If this is your first chess game purchase, others on the market are more complete. Especially if you are new to chess, find a game that has better explained strategy and a more complex tutorial.

Player Reviews

by BHUUPS on Jun 2, 2021
by ragava on Dec 9, 2020
by sonu ughade on May 25, 2020
by santino on Jul 27, 2019
by gygy on Mar 20, 2019
by nonso on Dec 3, 2018
by CONFIRM on Jul 9, 2016
extra ordinary work
the best chess has hit the pc floor and i am glad i am using it. now the game starts and i recommend much more versions of this game. great job guys .
by srinivas The Magic on Oct 31, 2013
outrageously beautiful
chess games will never be boring anymore..3 cheers for the game genius innovators.
by louie on Oct 13, 2011
EXCELLENT GAME
This is the best chess game i have ever played. It is a good game which improves the knowledge in chess.... It is not also a chess but a war between the good and the bad.....
by raghavan on Jul 28, 2011
play it
it is very good game,but there is need to improve image quality.
by jiten on May 26, 2011
It's amazing
the game war chess is superb!!!!!!!!!
by rakesh mohan on Jul 23, 2010
excellent game
This is the most excellent game which I have ever played.
by jay on Apr 7, 2010
Chess: The game of silence experience and fun
Its very pleasuring and interesting to play the game of chess, especially when we see the war between the chess pieces. Thank You
by Gagan . A . Bihani on Mar 9, 2010
AWSOME
This is a reel fun game. It makes chess fun and I recommended this game to people who like chess.
by Justin on Feb 28, 2010
Fantastic and Beautiful
This is the best chess game I have ever played before. Images, actions and fiction are all nice. Chess is more beautiful with this game. All children and parents must try this game.
by Zafer Özbek on Feb 3, 2010
war chess goin to rock
war chess is very attractive to play,.. Also it is quite different from normal chess game what we play,.. so innovative,... "......DEFINITELY WAR CHESS ROCKX,..."
by pradeep on Dec 20, 2009
ever best chess
This is the best chess I have seen so far.This is an amazing game that involves strategy with cool game figures that allow you to play chess in a whole different way! I recommend this game to any chess players looking for more excitement.
by waheed on Jul 10, 2009
Its very easy to play!
Many chess games are played and mastered by players, you may be one of them! In my view this game is like any other chess game, same rules, same style, except that this game is much more thrilling and exciting! And you will almost feel that you are really in the game field! Consequently, this game is really worth it to play, and you will be happy to play it!
by zein on Jun 24, 2009
a chance to become good grandmasters
Its a very good step towards giving all of us a chance to become good chess players. Generally i have seen chess games that are very easy so as to attract the audience, but i am grateful to you to give me a game where i can compete. It's moreover fascinating also.
by divyansh jain on Jun 1, 2009
The game is just so good
I played the demo version of this game and I found it so exciting. I am so happy that I get to play such a chess game and I cant wait to get the full version of the game cause I loved it so much. I am gonna buy the full version
by prabal chandra sharma on May 28, 2009
Awesome!
This is an amazing game that involves strategy with cool game figures that allows you to play chess in a whole new different way! I recommend this game to any chess players looking for more excitement. I AM SO BUYING THE FULL VERSION!!!
by Connor on May 23, 2009
It's a Great Game
I have played this game before and found the moves very real and amazing. The thing i liked the most is the way things happen when you capture the opponent. The animation is just out of this world. A chess and war fan would love to play this game and my verdict about this game is just OUT OF THE WORLD SUPERB!!!!! WE WANT MORE OF THIS!!!!!!!!!
by prabal chandra sharma66 on May 18, 2009
AWSOME GAME play it and win (or lose)
The best game i downloaded. it's your favorite chess pieces changed to medieval times (ps the 1st game i ever downloaded)
by jay67 on May 17, 2009
An excellent creative approach to games
I purchased the war chess and it has been overwhelmingly exciting. I congratulate the mind that conceived this idea. No more boredom.
by Jakes Zachs on Apr 4, 2009
reveiw
i'm sorry but i can't download any war chess but i played it some other time and how do i put this..........it was awsome this game rocks!!!!!!!!
by cody on Mar 21, 2009
Ultimate Chess game ever
This is an excellent chess game with enhanced 3d graphics and so realastic.I love this game.It is better than chess master 10
by Allen on Apr 26, 2008
My congrats
This game is simply superb and excellent. The graphics are excellent. I love to play chess and after seeing this, i am very eager to play again and again. The moves of king and queen are superb. This game is like a real war happening in the field. For me the game is fantastic and superb
by user5444 on Mar 16, 2008
exceptional
It's an alright game. Good for chess lovers, or anybody looking to pass a little time. The graphics are okay, but they could use a little time. It takes a little while for the king and queen characters to move. Also the end of a match could use a little work. Overall its a fun game to play!
by Warbeast on Jan 21, 2008
Great & waiting for War Chess 2
The first thing that struck me, in the too-short minute demo, was just the potential of a future release. This game is super and satisfies the long pent-up wait for a replacement to the long-outdated old MS-DOS versions still floating around. It's definitely worth the price, super for kids, destructive but not gory. The cons... I could just imagine all the different creatures & monsters in future versions, unlimited really. This game just so lends itself to expansion sets & mods. I have a G-Force 8700M 512MB in my notebook, so there is room for graphics improvement...If they do a War Chess 2 right, I could see it winning one of the top gaming awards! An excellent first entry, but really leaves B chess fans hungering for more! I also didn't notice, in the demo, a pause, save game, or undo feature...maybe in the full version? I have only studied the demo. Again this game should definitely be put in the 'first try' category. Real B chess lovers shouldn't wait, it's worth the 20 bucks.
by Ted on Aug 21, 2007