Well, the first playtest lasted two weeks and, in my opinion, went extremely well. I’d like to share some data from it: 6,430 people played the game, with an average playtime of 1 hour 38 minutes, and roughly 347 players per day. I think those are really strong numbers for a first run!
During the playtest, I released nine fix updates, added a bunch of languages, and with the help of the community found a ton of bugs. By the way, if you’re interested in the game, found a bug, or have good ideas then join our Discord server. I try to reply to every message there, and it’s the fastest way to reach me.
TODO list
Of course, throughout the playtest I collected all the feedback and pulled out the top 5 key areas I need to work on:
Adjust rating system and game difficulty.
Onboarding — tutorial, move hover hints, clearer boss ability descriptions (shoutout Antichess boss), simplify chess terminology.
Game pacing — streamlining slow moments, more dynamism in matches.
Readability — font/kerning across languages, toggle for chromatic aberration.
More “wildness” and content.
Beyond that, I want to add "quality-of-life" features like move-arrows and pre-moves.
Final Words
Huge thanks to everyone who took the time to play! A special thank you to the small community on Steam and Discord. Your bug reports and suggestions really help the game grow.
I plan to run at least two more playtests before the demo and full release. Stay tuned for updates, and add the game to your wishlist!