Chess puzzles are hard. Of course, chess is hard. When you first learn the basics, it seems straightforward enough. Then you play a bit, and you realize there’s a reason it’s a game that has been around for centuries. SokoChess takes the idea of chess to a slightly different plane.
Less chess game than puzzle game built around the rules of chess; your goal is to push the black chess pieces into specific squares. Its mechanics are straightforward: if you know what a bishop or a rook is, and how they move, you will understand how this game works.
The thing is, it’s hard. Real hard.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time playing traditional chess puzzles. They’re a great way to pass the time, and they’re also a great way to get better at chess. Learning all about the basic mechanics of the game through endless repetition teaches you a lot. Especially when you get attached to keeping your puzzle rating from dipping too far by picking the wrong move.
(If you want to give it a go, lichess.org is a fantastic depository of puzzles, built on real games of real users.)
But SokoChess is not that. Unlike a normal chess puzzle, this game isn’t about learning how to fork or pin or checkmate. Your goal is to solve a specific puzzle.
It starts off easy enough, in typical tutorial fashion, attack a pair of pawns on a single track puzzle, and push them into their spots.
You learn quickly that the black pieces — you always play white, which moves first, traditionally — fight back. Find yourself in a piece down on a diagonal next to a pawn, and it will capture your piece. Get a few levels in, and sacrifices become an occasional necessity to get the black pieces to their final home.
It’s rarely straightforward, and often requires a fair bit of lateral thinking.
At its best, it’s a game that gets you to really think about your next move, and the move after that, and the move after that. At its worst, you make a wrong move, hit the back button and take back your last move, and the move before that, and the move before that, and… well, you get the idea here.
SokoChess probably isn’t a bad game. In some ways, it’s a good way to train yourself to think about chess, several moves ahead. The other side of that coin is this is what makes it endlessly frustrating. If you hit a wall in Sokochess you really hit a wall. It’s very unforgiving, and there are no hints on offer. This is not a puzzle game that holds your hand.
That’s going to either be its charm or its downfall for you. It depends on what you’re looking for in a chess puzzle game, and what you hope to get out of it.
Me? I’ll stick to learning new ways to get to checkmate.
SokoChess
Developper and publisher : Daisy Games
Platform : Windows (tested on Steam)
