Tencent is one of the biggest game publishers in the world thanks to its many purchases of popular game studios and investments in others. This puts it in a position to stay on top of the growing gaming landscape on mobile devices (and other platforms) and develop games in popular genres as well as adapt popular games for the mobile platform, like PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile for example.
Its latest venture comes in the form of Chess Rush, its own version of an Auto Chess-like game that seems to have been sweeping the gaming industry of late. Auto Chess, having started the craze of this new game type that features a sort of automatic chess match was released not too long ago, and was promptly followed by Dota Underlords, Valve’s version of the game. Auto Chess is published by Epic Games, Valve’s biggest rival, and was built on Dota 2 as an alternative game mode.
With two big publishers now offering this type of game perhaps it was only a matter of time before Tencent threw its own hat into the ring. Chess Rush is now available on both Android and iOS mobile platforms and is completely free-to-play. This usually means there will be micro transactions involved as Tencent has to make money from the game’s development somehow, but according to Tencent in-game purchases shouldn’t be too heavy-handed.
In fact, Tencent made it a point to advertise that Chess Rush would be a game that isn’t “pay to win” like so many mobile games these days often are, further emphasizing that skill will be the only factor that will help players win, and perhaps a little bit of luck. If this is an accurate statement about the game, then players who enjoy this type of gameplay may want to check Chess Rush out.
The game features matches on an 8×8 chess board and players can build teams from a roster of over 50 different characters, which means there are a massive amount of combinations when it comes to selecting and putting together a team. This is where part of that skill comes in that Tencent was referring to in regards to winning matches, as you’ll want to be familiar with as many benefits and pitfalls of the characters as possible.
Chess Rush offers both classic matches and turbo matches to help the game fit into just about anyone’s time frame. Classic matches are much longer, upwards of 40 minutes, while turbo matches can be completed in only 10 so if you don’t have a lot of time then a turbo match is just what you’re looking for here.
Chess Rush also feature ranked play, so if you’re feeling extra competitive and want to give it a go you can test your skills against other players looking to climb the ranks of the leaderboards. There’s even a co-op mode where you can take on other teams with your friends. Chess Rush is a strategy game so if you’ve never played any games like it before, it may require a little bit of practice. May the best team win.