HomeGamesUpdatesPricingMethodology
Steam News25 September 20259mo ago

Mad Chess Beta 0.86 - Adventure Endgame + Replay scene

Adventure Added levels 41 to 50 to conclude Madeline and Valtasar's stories (hardest levels in the game, including lots of new units and a real final boss), Some of these levels also unlock up to 6 additional reserve un

Full notes

Full Mad Chess update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

0 fixes1 addition0 changes0 removals
  • UI and audio
addedAdventure Added levels 41 to 50 to conclude Madeline and Valtasar's stories (hardest levels in the game, including lots of new units and a real final boss ), Some of these levels also unlock up to 6 additional reserve units that are not playable outside of Adventure, Added different indicators if you completed the levels in arcade or classic modes (yellow or green checkmarks), Reworked texts for most levels, If your adventure progress is reset, just type ''final'' in the main menu to auto-complete all levels up to level 40 (that cheatcode will be gone in the next patch), Adventure units now get revealed 1 by 1 in the beastiary as you progress through the levels., Level previews now showcase the chess board visuals instead of always being the marble preset., Unlocking reserve units UI now optimized to show exactly how many units are unlocked, All levels now feature the full collection of the +30 chess boards., You can now choose to play as Random for any adventure level., The level previews also features arrows to let you cycle through the main 1-50 story levels., General A Replay scene has been added to allow you to copy/paste any game., Steam achievements added to the game (30 of them, none are connected to multiplayer), Added Steam cloud saves to the game, Added 20 chess boards to the game, Reworked chaos mode: now only randomizes your army with units from your unlocked factions, Added a new Terrain button : that adds 2-3 terrain objects on your side of the chess board (separately from chaos and/or shuffle), Reworked shuffle button: now randomizes the position of all pieces outside of the rooks, but bishops are always on separate colors, and kings always on either center squares., Slight AI rework (should lower weird openings), Various small bug fixes (alien double move stalemate, undos affecting mandrakes cycles, yeti knight not working with adventure pawns, winning sound being too loud, etc.), Demons now have their ability icons flipped depending if they are white or black - for easier visual representation., Mermaids now have a full water chessboard visual instead of a blue filter., The beastiary now features a full colored grid of all pieces in 1 single screen if you have unlocked all the factions (it is a picture for now, but this will probably be updated to a full Unity UI grid)., Info A new locked Museum button has been added to the info scene where, once bought in the shop, you can see around 20 concept art of the game, including never seen before units., A new locked Shield button has been added to the info scene where, once bought in the shop, allows you to take on a 30-question quiz to map your political beliefs via a new paradigm on a two-axis model (kinda like a small side-project), Options Added infinite time for the clock, Added time alarm sound for 5, 3 and 1 minutes, Added the option to change background images in versus/multiplayer (if bought in the shop). Can be set to specific backgrounds, or default P1/P2., Added the material advantage indicator , Shop You can now unlock the Museum + Political Shield., You can now unlock all the backgrounds to be used during the game, and the new +20 chessboards., The shopkeeper now has a few rotating lines of dialogue to greet you., Shop mouse scrolling now works smoothly., Multiplayer Various bug fixes, When creating a game, the player can activate or deactivate chaos, terrain and shuffle., Balance & Rework Carbuncles : Rework : Rook + Knight + Bishop now capture like their archetypes but travel differently (rook = travels like bishop, knight = travels like rook, bishop = travels like knight). This should make the pieces easier to play and to visually understand., Scarabs : Rework : Because of the changes to Carbuncles, Scarabs rook + knight + bishop have their scent abilities reworked to not duplicate the carbuncles setup. Rook now gains knight moves, knight now gains bishop moves, and bishop now gains rook moves., Kobolds : Rework : Every status effect from the kobolds now apply for 2 full turns instead of 1 (so for example the queen's mega drill would allow you to unborrow and freeze a massive part of the enemy's army for 2 full turns). Knight's ability upgrades to burrowing to the closest diagonal (3) enemy square, which disables captures for 2 turns on enemy units on the same rank & file., Mandrakes : Nerf : queen now surround (3) instead of (4), bishop now diagonal (3) instead of (4), Yetis : Buff : queen now surround (4) instead of (3), Genies : Buff : Queen ability buffed to orthogonal travel both vertically and horizontally as if the board was cylindrical. Knight can now leap (3,1) when standing on any edges., Tengu : Buff : knight ability now covers all surrounding enemy squares instead of orthogonal (4), Aliens : Nerf : bishop now diagonal (3) instead of diagonal (4), Tikis : Buff : Bishop transforms with orthogonal (1) instead of squares directly in front and behind, Angels : Nerf : Queen now surround (3) instead of surround (4), What's coming next Final tweaks to balance based on your feedback, Final bug fixes if you find more stuff, Slight improvements to the AI, Some small additional features for Adventure mode, After that, the game will pretty much be ready for a 1.0 launch (ideally some more stuff will be added post-launch but I will consider the game to be a good enough viable product to be sent out there for people to purchase and play)., ** thank you everyone for your patience!

Mad Chess changes

addedAdventure Added levels 41 to 50 to conclude Madeline and Valtasar's stories (hardest levels in the game, including lots of new units and a real final boss ), Some of these levels also unlock up to 6 additional reserve units that are not playable outside of Adventure, Added different indicators if you completed the levels in arcade or classic modes (yellow or green checkmarks), Reworked texts for most levels, If your adventure progress is reset, just type ''final'' in the main menu to auto-complete all levels up to level 40 (that cheatcode will be gone in the next patch), Adventure units now get revealed 1 by 1 in the beastiary as you progress through the levels., Level previews now showcase the chess board visuals instead of always being the marble preset., Unlocking reserve units UI now optimized to show exactly how many units are unlocked, All levels now feature the full collection of the +30 chess boards., You can now choose to play as Random for any adventure level., The level previews also features arrows to let you cycle through the main 1-50 story levels., General A Replay scene has been added to allow you to copy/paste any game., Steam achievements added to the game (30 of them, none are connected to multiplayer), Added Steam cloud saves to the game, Added 20 chess boards to the game, Reworked chaos mode: now only randomizes your army with units from your unlocked factions, Added a new Terrain button : that adds 2-3 terrain objects on your side of the chess board (separately from chaos and/or shuffle), Reworked shuffle button: now randomizes the position of all pieces outside of the rooks, but bishops are always on separate colors, and kings always on either center squares., Slight AI rework (should lower weird openings), Various small bug fixes (alien double move stalemate, undos affecting mandrakes cycles, yeti knight not working with adventure pawns, winning sound being too loud, etc.), Demons now have their ability icons flipped depending if they are white or black - for easier visual representation., Mermaids now have a full water chessboard visual instead of a blue filter., The beastiary now features a full colored grid of all pieces in 1 single screen if you have unlocked all the factions (it is a picture for now, but this will probably be updated to a full Unity UI grid)., Info A new locked Museum button has been added to the info scene where, once bought in the shop, you can see around 20 concept art of the game, including never seen before units., A new locked Shield button has been added to the info scene where, once bought in the shop, allows you to take on a 30-question quiz to map your political beliefs via a new paradigm on a two-axis model (kinda like a small side-project), Options Added infinite time for the clock, Added time alarm sound for 5, 3 and 1 minutes, Added the option to change background images in versus/multiplayer (if bought in the shop). Can be set to specific backgrounds, or default P1/P2., Added the material advantage indicator , Shop You can now unlock the Museum + Political Shield., You can now unlock all the backgrounds to be used during the game, and the new +20 chessboards., The shopkeeper now has a few rotating lines of dialogue to greet you., Shop mouse scrolling now works smoothly., Multiplayer Various bug fixes, When creating a game, the player can activate or deactivate chaos, terrain and shuffle., Balance & Rework Carbuncles : Rework : Rook + Knight + Bishop now capture like their archetypes but travel differently (rook = travels like bishop, knight = travels like rook, bishop = travels like knight). This should make the pieces easier to play and to visually understand., Scarabs : Rework : Because of the changes to Carbuncles, Scarabs rook + knight + bishop have their scent abilities reworked to not duplicate the carbuncles setup. Rook now gains knight moves, knight now gains bishop moves, and bishop now gains rook moves., Kobolds : Rework : Every status effect from the kobolds now apply for 2 full turns instead of 1 (so for example the queen's mega drill would allow you to unborrow and freeze a massive part of the enemy's army for 2 full turns). Knight's ability upgrades to burrowing to the closest diagonal (3) enemy square, which disables captures for 2 turns on enemy units on the same rank & file., Mandrakes : Nerf : queen now surround (3) instead of (4), bishop now diagonal (3) instead of (4), Yetis : Buff : queen now surround (4) instead of (3), Genies : Buff : Queen ability buffed to orthogonal travel both vertically and horizontally as if the board was cylindrical. Knight can now leap (3,1) when standing on any edges., Tengu : Buff : knight ability now covers all surrounding enemy squares instead of orthogonal (4), Aliens : Nerf : bishop now diagonal (3) instead of diagonal (4), Tikis : Buff : Bishop transforms with orthogonal (1) instead of squares directly in front and behind, Angels : Nerf : Queen now surround (3) instead of surround (4), What's coming next Final tweaks to balance based on your feedback, Final bug fixes if you find more stuff, Slight improvements to the AI, Some small additional features for Adventure mode, After that, the game will pretty much be ready for a 1.0 launch (ideally some more stuff will be added post-launch but I will consider the game to be a good enough viable product to be sent out there for people to purchase and play)., ** thank you everyone for your patience!
  1. Adventure

    1. Added levels 41 to 50 to conclude Madeline and Valtasar's stories (hardest levels in the game, including lots of new units and a real final boss),

    2. Some of these levels also unlock up to 6 additional reserve units that are not playable outside of Adventure,

    3. Added different indicators if you completed the levels in arcade or classic modes (yellow or green checkmarks),

    4. Reworked texts for most levels,

    5. If your adventure progress is reset, just type ''final'' in the main menu to auto-complete all levels up to level 40 (that cheatcode will be gone in the next patch),

    6. Adventure units now get revealed 1 by 1 in the beastiary as you progress through the levels.,

    7. Level previews now showcase the chess board visuals instead of always being the marble preset.,

    8. Unlocking reserve units UI now optimized to show exactly how many units are unlocked,

    9. All levels now feature the full collection of the +30 chess boards.,

    10. You can now choose to play as Random for any adventure level.,

    11. The level previews also features arrows to let you cycle through the main 1-50 story levels.,

    General

    1. A Replay scene has been added to allow you to copy/paste any game.,

    2. Steam achievements added to the game (30 of them, none are connected to multiplayer),

    3. Added Steam cloud saves to the game,

    4. Added 20 chess boards to the game,

    5. Reworked chaos mode: now only randomizes your army with units from your unlocked factions,

    6. Added a new Terrain button: that adds 2-3 terrain objects on your side of the chess board (separately from chaos and/or shuffle),

    7. Reworked shuffle button: now randomizes the position of all pieces outside of the rooks, but bishops are always on separate colors, and kings always on either center squares.,

    8. Slight AI rework (should lower weird openings),

    9. Various small bug fixes (alien double move stalemate, undos affecting mandrakes cycles, yeti knight not working with adventure pawns, winning sound being too loud, etc.),

    10. Demons now have their ability icons flipped depending if they are white or black - for easier visual representation.,

    11. Mermaids now have a full water chessboard visual instead of a blue filter.,

    12. The beastiary now features a full colored grid of all pieces in 1 single screen if you have unlocked all the factions (it is a picture for now, but this will probably be updated to a full Unity UI grid).,

    Info

    1. A new locked Museum button has been added to the info scene where, once bought in the shop, you can see around 20 concept art of the game, including never seen before units.,

    2. A new locked Shield button has been added to the info scene where, once bought in the shop, allows you to take on a 30-question quiz to map your political beliefs via a new paradigm on a two-axis model (kinda like a small side-project),

    Options

    1. Added infinite time for the clock,

    2. Added time alarm sound for 5, 3 and 1 minutes,

    3. Added the option to change background images in versus/multiplayer (if bought in the shop). Can be set to specific backgrounds, or default P1/P2.,

    4. Added the material advantage indicator,

    Shop

    1. You can now unlock the Museum + Political Shield.,

    2. You can now unlock all the backgrounds to be used during the game, and the new +20 chessboards.,

    3. The shopkeeper now has a few rotating lines of dialogue to greet you.,

    4. Shop mouse scrolling now works smoothly.,

    Multiplayer

    1. Various bug fixes,

    2. When creating a game, the player can activate or deactivate chaos, terrain and shuffle.,

    Balance & Rework

    1. Carbuncles: Rework: Rook + Knight + Bishop now capture like their archetypes but travel differently (rook = travels like bishop, knight = travels like rook, bishop = travels like knight). This should make the pieces easier to play and to visually understand.,

    2. ScarabsRework : Because of the changes to Carbuncles, Scarabs rook + knight + bishop have their scent abilities reworked to not duplicate the carbuncles setup. Rook now gains knight moves, knight now gains bishop moves, and bishop now gains rook moves.,
    3. Kobolds: Rework: Every status effect from the kobolds now apply for 2 full turns instead of 1 (so for example the queen's mega drill would allow you to unborrow and freeze a massive part of the enemy's army for 2 full turns). Knight's ability upgrades to burrowing to the closest diagonal (3) enemy square, which disables captures for 2 turns on enemy units on the same rank & file.,

    4. Mandrakes: Nerf: queen now surround (3) instead of (4), bishop now diagonal (3) instead of (4),

    5. Yetis: Buff: queen now surround (4) instead of (3),

    6. Genies: Buff: Queen ability buffed to orthogonal travel both vertically and horizontally as if the board was cylindrical. Knight can now leap (3,1) when standing on any edges.,

    7. Tengu: Buff: knight ability now covers all surrounding enemy squares instead of orthogonal (4),

    8. Aliens: Nerf: bishop now diagonal (3) instead of diagonal (4),

    9. Tikis: Buff: Bishop transforms with orthogonal (1) instead of squares directly in front and behind,

    10. Angels: Nerf: Queen now surround (3) instead of surround (4),

    What's coming next

    1. Final tweaks to balance based on your feedback,

    2. Final bug fixes if you find more stuff,

    3. Slight improvements to the AI,

    4. Some small additional features for Adventure mode,

    5. After that, the game will pretty much be ready for a 1.0 launch (ideally some more stuff will be added post-launch but I will consider the game to be a good enough viable product to be sent out there for people to purchase and play).,

    ** thank you everyone for your patience!

Source

Steam News / 25 September 2025

Open original post

Changelog.gg summarizes and formats this update. How we read updates.