Checkers Kingdom update, August 2026 (and new game announcement)

This one is mostly fixes and accessibility work. Nothing here changes how checkers plays, but a lot of it removes small annoyances that have been reported since June.

Sound

• Audio no longer cuts out after you alt-tab or wake the PC. Sound now recovers on its own when the game regains focus, becomes visible again, or returns from an OS sleep or resume, instead of staying silent for the rest of the session.

• The move sound lands the moment a move is made. Move audio now fires at commit time rather than after the piece finishes sliding. That applies to your own moves, the AI's moves, and moves arriving from an online opponent.

• The volume fade at launch plays properly instead of being lost. The opening volume ramp now waits until the audio system is actually running before it starts, so it is applied to live audio rather than a suspended one.

Startup and window

• No more white flash when the game starts up. Startup now opens on a dark first frame with a light branded splash instead of flashing white before the menu appears.

• The game remembers your fullscreen choice and window size. Your fullscreen preference is saved between sessions, and windowed size, position, and maximized state are restored and validated on launch.

Keyboard and accessibility

• You can play a full game from the keyboard, with proper screen reader support. The board is now a single tab stop accessible grid that you can move around and play with the keyboard, and the gamepad cursor stays in sync with it.

• Step through a finished game one move at a time with the arrow keys. Postgame analysis now supports single move keyboard navigation, with audio cues as you move through the replay.

• Arrow keys page through lesson explanations. Left and right move between explanation steps in non-puzzle lessons, so you can read through a lesson without reaching for the mouse.

Controller

• A controller resting on the desk no longer hijacks your mouse cursor. Small stick drift on an idle controller, and the synthetic mouse movement it caused, no longer pull focus away while you are using the mouse.

Settings

• New board texture setting, in every supported language. You can now turn the board texture on or off, the choice is saved with the rest of your preferences, and the option is translated across all supported locales.

Support continues

Checkers Kingdom is not being put aside. We still read the discussions board, bug reports still turn into fixes, and several of the items above came straight from posts there. If something is broken or awkward for you, post it in the hub discussions. That is where we look first when we plan the next pass.

Something new from us

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For bundle owners

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