Chess Knights: Shinobi Reviews

Cute lil' chess puzzle game. You control a 'warrior' knight which moves as expected for the piece. The game has some sort of lore and progression to it, you have to move around evading your enemies using interesting tactics like hiding in a bush, and on some you have to kill an enemy as well as moving through the map, as you start in the woods and fight your way to the village. Scenery is about Edo era Japan with simple and minimalistic landscapes and edifications, but actually well done, you can tell there is effort put into it. Music also fits well the mood and doesn't really get tiring at all. If you like chess, you might like this. I mean, I don't really play chess but still like me a quick puzzle game that puts the gears to spin so I'm looking forward to it while more levels are added. Also, as a side note, I tried some things to try to break the game, but so far I found no bugs or anything weird that shouldn't happen. Recommended.

Really great minimalist puzzle game. The recent update tripled the content of an already great game, definitely worth the price here. Knights are my least favorite chess piece, but playing them as a ninja may have changed my view of them. The difficulty scales wonderfully right up until the last level which is very very hard, but just enough to where you feel accomplished when you beat it. The only negative I have here is you can't pan the camera, only zoom and rotate. Other than that this is a standout of the minimalist puzzle genre. Edit: The developer has fixed some bugs and given the community a much-needed hint about the secret achievement, so props to him as well!

Edit: Updated playthrough with ALL the normal levels here: https://youtu.be/Zr-5X2c3k8Y Great game but god dang is it difficult not sure if it was the alcohol or the fact my chess I.Q. is 42 but it was a fun little brain boggler killing the Generals was extremely satisfying after trying not to get spanked by some simp rooks/bishops. Not sure how to get all the achievements since I hid in a bush and didn't get the hide in a bush achievement (got faito achievement at later date which has been included in video thanks to user carmylle on steam) but if you need help on any of the levels. my play through with all levels here: https://youtu.be/xhNwdCEFKZo

CK: Shinobi is a amazing puzzle game, at each level is a new challenge to pass through. The game graphics is are simple, but it don't strip the experience cuz' the level design is excellent. My favorite part in this game is the sound design, the music are good and interact directly with the thematic of the game. Each movement of enemy pieces and "teleports" has a well-developed sound. The game is more fun that i expected. Is a new way to play chess.

Really enjoyable and relaxing puzzle game can see myself spending a lot more time with it. Definitely recommended for chess lovers. For the price this is an absolute steal, gets quite challenging but retains the fun factor with clever level design and different elements. Pick up and put down puzzler that'll make you smile.

It could have been a good game. Unfortunately, after only 10 minutes of playing I get a lot of problems: Pawns not introduced in tutorial https://steamcommunity.com/app/1383050/discussions/0/3004430610122835225/ Level would not end https://steamcommunity.com/app/1383050/discussions/0/3004430610122827042/ Game can skip level while you playing it https://steamcommunity.com/app/1383050/discussions/0/3004430610122843806/ Japanese characters appearing for no reason https://steamcommunity.com/app/1383050/discussions/0/3004430610122820102/ I can`t keep playing.

I really like this lil gem. It somehow reminds me of Zapper for Gamecube, a game i liked alot too.. Its relaxing, keeps u entertained and occupied for a long time. I especially love how its chess pieces but puzzle like, true to how the chess pieces would move in chess. Plus the extra bonus of assassination, who doesnt like some good old fashioned killing to really make u get into this way deeper. The only down side in this game is that u end up in a realm, where u risk missing out on items for a good long while, 5 or so for me, because just getting to the end area wasnt enough, u actually have to land on the artifact to claim it, not just the end area of that map.The game is missing that information, so its learn by doing, this is good and bad. Overall i really love this game. Such a nice time waster, u can just walk away from it n come back, no penalties for that either, so its good for those busy days, rushing away n to pc.

Great addition to Chess Knights series ! The SHINOBI theme is awesome: soundtrack and sound effects really gives you the theme immersion and peace of mind that the puzzles demands. Got myself looking for shurikens on my pocket :D The series makes the perfect blending of chess pieces movement with the puzzles presented in such a clever way that makes the game fun for everyone. My son (4 years old) NEVER EVER asked to join a chess match.. BUT when he saw me playing, he just got hooked: guess he will learn a bit of chess without knowing (LOL) -- maybe another chess fan is on the making.

[b]5/10[/b] Become a silent Ninja assassin and make your way to the Shogun to exact revenge! …as a humble chess knight piece. [b]What is it:[/b] A chess inspired puzzle game, but you don’t really need to know chess to play it. You play as one (or sometimes more) chess knights in a grid-based level. Starting from a safe area where the enemy pieces cannot attack you, you must move to the exit area without being seen. You move as a chess knight moves, jumping in an L pattern, two steps in one direction and one perpendicular. There are enemy pieces as well, and you cannot attack them, but they will attack you if you get in their range. You take turns moving, you move one of your pieces, then the enemy moves one of their pieces. Only one of your pieces needs to reach the exit, so sometimes you have to sacrifice a knight. Not only will that get an enemy piece out of the way, it will actually remove it from the game entirely, since they fight a duel to the death! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3301738765 It starts easy, with a few levels with no enemies that just teach you about the movement patterns of a knight and the goal of the game, then slowly introduces enemy types, but it gets challenging after the first chapter. Other mechanics include tall grass you can hide in, teleporters, strong enemies which can survive one attack, multi-layered levels, traps with bells that sound the alarm when you move on them, pieces you have to capture, and treasure you must bring back to the starting zone. The puzzles are interesting, sometimes you just have to find the right path avoiding enemies, sometimes you need to decide which pawn to sacrifice and where, or whether the only path forward is to trigger the alarm, even if that brings more enemies into play. And there are hidden levels that you have to find by going on tiles that clearly don’t belong on the path to the solution. It all takes place in fully immersive environments, forests and villages that you actually move through literally, after finishing one level you move to the next house down the street until you reach the end of the village. I liked the puzzles, and I enjoyed hunting for secret levels for a while. In theory, this is a good puzzle game. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3301740111 Yet, the game is broken in many ways. There is one single undo available, and only if you didn’t die. The enemy patterns are not shown, you have to play a lot to figure out how they move. So the second half of the game is basically replaying the same level over and over until you figure out which piece will move next and where, then plan a route around that. The game is in immersive 3D, you can freely rotate the camera around, and the action takes place at night, so it’s often hard to figure out what the board layout actually is. There is no indication where the secret levels are, and while in the first chapter it was fun to try to reach all the squares in all the levels, the later levels are big and hard enough to solve, I don’t think that many people would enjoy hunting for secrets that much. It crashed many times, and it is quite resource intensive, it barely works on an integrated GPU unless you make the window small. The developers have no intention to keep maintaining this, so be forewarned that the game is buggy and will continue to be buggy. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3301739460 So, to recap, good idea, decent puzzles, but terrible QoL and buggy. I really want to recommend this game, but I can't in its current state. [b]How hard is it:[/b] Easy to moderate. [b]How long is it:[/b] 50 levels + 10 harder, hidden levels, 3-6 hours to finish if you use a guide to find the secret levels, must be completed in order. [b]Level design:[/b] Decent. Good ramp up in difficulty, fairly varied levels, with a few different types of solutions. I didn’t like that many of them rely more on slowly building a path that works while watching and learning the enemy move patterns, rather than a clever solution or a purely logical solve. [b]Quality:[/b] Unfortunately, bad. Very limited undo. Mouse and controller, no keyboard. A few audio/video settings. No cloud saving, but good achievements. A bit slow on an integrated GPU, but it works. A bit unresponsive to clicks. Beautiful scenery. [b]Worth the price:[/b] Yes. [b]Most positive aspect for me:[/b] A good concept with some good puzzles. [b]Most negative aspect for me:[/b] No undo. [b]What would make it better:[/b] Unlimited undo. More responsive controls. Cloud saving. Graphics quality settings to make it faster on integrated GPUs. Fix the bugs and crashes. A little hint about the location of the hidden levels. [b]Also consider:[/b] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/12632/CHESSINSPIRED_PUZZLE_GAMES/?curator_clanid=25928931]Their other chess-inspired puzzles[/url], although also buggy and with limited QoL, they’re good mental exercises. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2479610/Take_the_King/?curator_clanid=25928931]Take the King![/url], much better chess-inspired puzzles. [quote]For more puzzle game reviews, news and everything puzzle-related, follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/25928931-Puzzle-Lovers/]Puzzle Lovers[/url] and check out our [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/puzzlelovers]Steam group[/url].[/quote] [quote]Follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/quote]

There are no instructions at all beyond how chess pieces move. The player is not told what the goal of the game is or how to achieve the goal. Most frustrating of all game does not explain what pieces on the board in relation to the player piece. Some seem to move left to right, other diagonally & there appears to be no clear reason why other than the piece that captured me is supposed to MAYBE be a rook or bishop. I honestly cannot tell. I also found myself sucked into an unwinnable golden room with no instruction at all. Am I supposed to capture the pieces? Are the pieces supposed to capture me? Am I supposed to reach a check point? What IS the check point!? The spaces that LOOK like an end goal reaching all of them does nothing. The complete lack of instruction is infuriating to a point of rage. I need a clear guide as to what pieces are, what they do & where they go along with what the goal of a game is or it is unplayable. There is a short menu that shows hardly distinguishable video of some pieces. Rook moves, up/down, & bishop diagonal but that still does NOT tell me what is a rook in the game, do they capture me, I them or none of the above? Can these pieces "Activate" at 1 square? 2 squares? 3? I have no idea. Literally nothing is ever explained. I know this game has all great reviews but I do not understand how. I find this to be completely unplayable & am honestly mad I spent the money. If anyone can clearly explain how to play this game to me I may change my review if I can. If not do not buy. I repeat Do. Not. Buy.