Zen Chess Collection Arrives On Switch, And You Can Get It For Less Than £1 If You're Quick

Chess was invented in India as a game about kingdoms at war, a must for any one who's good at strategy.

Chess is not really a console game. This type of game is ideal on a smartphone, much more portable.

Ok, this would have been suitable for the DS, but Nintendo have given up on the really portable portable devices, in favour of smartphone games.

Although I like chess, I'll keep my .89p.

"Enjoy beautifully designed chess boards and pieces, built with a lot of love and craftsmanship"

That screenshot looks incredibly basic....

@lemonjellydude
Haha, I was scrolling thrugh screenshots of the game. It does look boring and basic! Maybe Ryan Craddock played a different game.

@ryancraddock
Sorry, no intention of being mean. Just didn't think much of the graphics. But I love chess and will propbably buy the game.
Or not. The marketing strategy here is, well. Bad. Or good for them. The game will propbably go straight up on bestseller, and the sale will end.

If only it had 3D chess mode.
This looks really cheap.
But maybe just maybe i willbuy it for 1€

@lemonjellydude No, no, no, it's not basic, it's "minimalist"

To be fair though, it's a collection of chess puzzles, why does it need fancy graphics?

When I was younger, there used to be a "Chess Problems" section in the puzzles section of the newspaper, along with Crossword puzzles, and stuff like that. I used to cut out those Chess Puzzles and save those, and practice with those, for years. But then they stopped adding chess puzzles in newspapers. So I'm glad I saved those when I did. I'm always down for a game of chess.

I went ahead and got this, as I have plenty of points, and even money left over on my account. So, for about a $1, why not. But yeah, like I said, I'm always down for a game of chess. I also have Chess Ultra on the Switch too. Had it on the Wii U as well. And one on my smartphone as well.

Looks cheap, but i bought it anyway. Chess is chess.
"Unlike Nintendo", this dev also know Switch have a touch screen.

Is there blood and gore? If so, I will buy it.

@KitChan There's a lot of mating.

@chardir no one said it needed fancy graphics it just makes out by that claim of it being lovingly designed that its something special when it clearly isnt but agree how exciting are chess pieces?

Is this actually a full chess game or just a series of chess puzzles?

@KIRO Seems to just be 4 different sections (Mate in 1.. 2.. 3.. and 4) of 150 puzzles each, for a total of 600 puzzles.

Chess Ultra is a full fledged Chess game tho. I have that on the Switch as well. In that game, you can even choose which room to play on, which board to use, and with what pieces to use too. And it also has Chess Puzzles just like this game too. Definitely went all out in the graphics department too.

For 89p why not? Been trying to teach my son chess anyway so hopefully this will help.
Loved chessmaster on my gameboy and battle chess on my speccy. I'm old.....

@Lawnachaun thanks! A solid 8/10 review on this site and I think it’s less than $15!

https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/chess_ultra

if anybody wants to play me on chess.com i’m always down for a daily time increment game. my user is foodmetaphors

@KIRO Yeah, Chess Ultra is a solid chess game.

@foodmetaphors I'm always down for a game. I don't have an account on Chess.com, or Lichess.com, or anywhere else. I usually just play as a guest, as I don't play often online (I mostly play in real life against people actually physically next to me), and I honestly couldn't care less about win/loss records. Also, for Timed games, depends on the time. I don't usually like to play with a timer, at all. I don't in real life, and I have online, but I prefer not to. That said, I never drag out the game or anything. I'll play with a clock, just usually no less than 10 mins per side, 15 mins per side is more than enough, as I like to at least look and think for a moment before moving. I'm not a speed chess player at all, where they move like 2 to 3 moves each every second. Too fast for me. But I'm not a 'slow poke' either. I don't drag out games either. I'll move. In fact, openings I can make the first couple of moves fast, as I'll have an idea of a plan, but then, once the game gets into action, then I might need a few seconds to think, per move. If that's cool, I'll play you. Just let me know.

If I didn't already have Chess Ultra I would probably consider getting this.

@Lawnachaun i dont like a timer either which is why i play daily chess (the timer is 1 day per move). i make my moves pretty quickly unless i’m sleeping or something. i also don’t care for win/loss record much so i mainly play unrated. you should make an account and add me!

Hm I'd rather have a full chess game that comes with chess challenges, like chess.com (browser and mobile app).

@shani Chess Ultra is for you then. Full game (offline vs humans and/or AI, and online vs humans), as well as chess challenges.

@foodmetaphors Ok. Made a quick account. Can play whenever you're ready. The 1 Day per move timer works for me. Games won't take a full days. Should be minutes. Maybe 20 to 30 mins, at most, if actively playing. Tho probably an average of 10 to 15 mins, most of the time. Maybe even less, a times. But that works. Whenever you're ready. I sent a friend request there.

@WCB one can only hope their expertise comes from this guy:

For a dollar, why not? Does anyone remember Archon? I would love to see a chess game where you make your move and then you have to fight for your piece.

@zool you got a point. Also had a knight puzzle subgenre of chess.

@rockodoodle Archon and its sequel were so good, played them recently on a pi running c64 and the 2 player still holds up. A remake would be great.

@Sup they could probably do a lot with it.... Think about the background, arena, power ups, weapons etc.