Dead Position

Description

Dead Position is a chess roguelike. Underneath is a straight game of chess against a small engine, on a 3D board. On top, every move you make scores, and you have ten moves to reach the target.

Every move scores

A round is a fresh game against the engine: ten moves, three take-backs and a target to reach. Every move scores chips × mult, from a quiet move up through captures, checks, forks, pins, skewers and discovered attacks to checkmate. Chain tactics into a streak and each one adds to the mult of the next; lose a piece to the engine’s reply and the streak snaps.

Gambits and the shop

Between rounds, the shopkeepers sell Gambits: passive cards that bend the scoring and, for a few of them, the rules of chess. Let your king castle from anywhere on the board, let your bishops jump a piece, double the mult on every knight move. Study packs level up the tactics you lean on, and editions (Foil, Holographic, Polychrome and Negative) sweeten any card.

The Host cheats

Your opponent is the Host, and he does not play fair. From the second match he bends the board with Blaze and Frost, and every match ends with one of his lieutenants: the Warden forbids you to give check, the Beach Bum sends tidal waves across the board, the Pyromancer burns the piece you lean on, and the Puppeteer never moves his own pieces. He moves yours.

A run

Four matches of four rounds, the targets climbing and the Host’s army growing. Skip a round for a tag, beat the fourth match’s boss to win, then climb the stakes: White, Red, Gold and Black.

Features

• Real chess underneath: the full rules, down to en passant, underpromotion and the dead position the game is named after
• Every move scores chips × mult; chain captures, checks, forks, pins and skewers into streaks
• Gambits that bend the scoring and the rules of chess, plus study packs and card editions
• The Host and four lieutenants who each break chess in a different way
• Free play against four engine levels, three tutorial lessons, and Blitz against the clock
• A Motion setting (Full, Reduced or None); the effects are built on motion and ink, never flashes of light

Trailer

Early access trailer. The full-resolution video file is available on request.

About Foxmoon Studios

Foxmoon Studios is a small independent game studio: a small group of cool people busting our behinds to make unique games. Our games are Lanky Looters and SALT: Super Awesome Laser Tag on Steam, and Dead Position, in early access on itch.io.

Studio logos and more on our press page.

Contact

Press, creators, keys and interviews: contact@foxmoonstudios.com