Summon Chess by popertots

[raw]
made by popertots for Ludum Dare 55 (JAM)

Like chess but you summon the pieces with magic. The Wizard King must keep moving to generate Mana. 1 programmer, 1 artist, 1 musician. Godot, Ibis, Ableton.

The enemy pawn attack logic is a little broken and we didnt have enough time to implement the animations we developed but we're proud anyway. Hope you enjoy!

EDIT. The enemies capturing your piece does not end their turn and they can then move again. But thats the fun of a jam, bugs and all haha

Ratings

Overall 738th 3.435⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Fun 569th 3.457⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Innovation 123th 3.935⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Theme 232th 4.109⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Graphics 950th 3.065⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Audio 582th 3.205⭐ 24🧑‍⚖️
Humor 630th 2.957⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Mood 952th 3.152⭐ 25🧑‍⚖️
Given 41🗳️ 24🗨️

Feedback

LightningST
16. Apr 2024 · 05:02 UTC
Cool concept, good use of the theme. Let me know if you ever release a version with animations!

Have you considered making summoning take your turn? I just waited for the enemy king to wander over to my side of the board, then summoned a pawn right next to him and immediately won.
Bx007
16. Apr 2024 · 11:27 UTC
I like the idea about combining summoning and chess!
btw, I found that I can win the game without summoning any pieces...just move the white king around until the black king can be defeated by the white king.
Pandalk
16. Apr 2024 · 17:55 UTC
I got stuck trying to summon a piece without being able to find a spot for it, interesting concept tho !
Glaikunt
16. Apr 2024 · 18:05 UTC
I WON! First game I lost, took me a second to understand how to gain mana & spawn. It's a really cool little game. There is a lot of room to expand this idea, great job!

![IWON.png](///raw/2bb/43/z/63c8d.png)
Santi Barra
16. Apr 2024 · 18:05 UTC
Fun concept and art! the game may be easy but it surely was hard to program!
Widerhold
16. Apr 2024 · 18:09 UTC
Great interpreation and concept! I had initially a similar concept but then moved away from a more traditional chess and in the end also scraped the movement regenerates mana. Lovely to see how similar ideas are differently interpreted! While it has the before mentioned flaws, like winning without even the need of a summon, i enjoyed playing it. Great job!
RhysT
16. Apr 2024 · 19:14 UTC
Novel idea, the enemy king is a bit to prone to letting itself be captured by my king though. Also no way to play again without closing the game as far as I can see.
Kilthorne
16. Apr 2024 · 19:34 UTC
Box rush solo King build! WHAM!
Overall fun idea, I'd make it a little more clear where you can summon your pieces.
Also, the AI needs more tuning.
Strong theme, well done!
🎤 popertots
16. Apr 2024 · 19:39 UTC
@kilthorne I completely agree. I do intend to finish off a proper "working" build when i have a chance. The current AI is "if i can capture i will(but the pawn is slightly broke), otherwise move a random piece"
LDJam user 374028
17. Apr 2024 · 09:06 UTC
Getting the enemy king with a knight was easy. The concept of summoning chess is interesting and could be developed further. The AI is very basic, yet I still lost once.

It's a shame that the music sounds choppy in the web version, given that you had a dedicated musician working with Ableton to make it (judging by the description, although I only see one username in the game page). Would you consider uploading the music somewhere or releasing a native build of the game?

Good job and congratulations!
Flying Butter Studio
17. Apr 2024 · 16:31 UTC
Really nice! Designs are a little bit disturbing but, that's ok :tongue:
Great used of the theme :smile:
It would be nice if there was a auto restart after we finish a game.
Keep it on :wink:
Pelmanable
17. Apr 2024 · 16:38 UTC
Interesting concept, but seems like AI is too easy. I just won first try and we only summoned 2-3 pawns, then enemy king decided to feed me...

Really love the concept, but don't have a room to play with it.
Bollatix23500
17. Apr 2024 · 16:50 UTC
I wish there was a tutorial but its a cool concept. Good job
🎤 popertots
17. Apr 2024 · 21:26 UTC
@pandalk great news! Theres a bug where you can just summon on top of existing pieces
DartDimon
18. Apr 2024 · 23:00 UTC
Idea is nice! I would like to have at the beginning some base figures, because for now parties are going so fast. Also AI kinda weak, unfortunately. Interesing concept, good job! Also I like the soundtrack.
poboy
19. Apr 2024 · 00:33 UTC
Really cool concept! Would be cool to play this with stronger AI and the bugs fixed (though ofc chess AI is not realistic to do in a jam setting). The art for the pieces is simultaneously unsettling and fun and cool, I enjoyed summoning all the pieces so I could see what their hands looked like
Hikiyoshi
27. Apr 2024 · 15:38 UTC
Interesting idea! This game is fun but it seems easy to beat the AI