Fake Chess
A downloadable game
FAKE CHESS now has a sequel,FAKE CHESS: BOOK OF CHAMPIONS.
Both games are available in print at shop.seanpatrickcain.com.
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Chessis a game of vast complexity and a 1500-year history.
FakeChess is not.
FakeChess players gettoactlikeserious chess players without the burdens of chess strategy, chesstactics, or chess rules.
Liveout your grandmaster fantasies … with Fake Chess!
* * *
"This is brilliant."
Michael "Wheels" Whelan
(The House Doesn't Always Win, Dicebreaker)
"[A] bizarre roleplaying game"
Alex Meehan (Dicebreaker)
* * *
Fake Chess requires a real chess set.
Two players will sit down and face off, armed with nothing more than their chess pieces, a few scraps of paper, and an extremely limited knowledge of chess. Using a very basic set of game rules and mechanics, these players will engage in what looks like an intense chess battle between two masters of the game.
It is dramatic. It is silly. It might be a real game, but it's definitely fake chess.
* * *
"Can you declare the NO-U Gambit in normal chess and wipe out the queen without having to move a piece? In Fake Chess you can. I rest my case."
Enbyss
(Streamer, Great Grandmaster of F. Chess)
* * *
Sean discusses Fake Chess with Two Can Play That Game
(Conversation begins at 44:00)
Fake Chess was created for#NotAGameJam2020.
| Status | Released |
| Category | Physical game |
| Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (66 total ratings) |
| Author | SPC |
| Genre | Role Playing |
| Tags | Board Game,Casual,Chess,Funny,GM-Less,LARP,live-action,Multiplayer,Short |
| Average session | About a half-hour |
| Languages | English |
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
Support this game at or above a special price point to receive something exclusive.
Community Copy
If can't afford to purchase Fake Chess but would like to play it, help yourself to a community copy.
If you appreciate the game, please consider leaving a 5-star rating. A kind review or social media post can also go a long way.
Every sale contributes more copies to the pool.
The Fake Chess UnFT
NFTs are virtual. When you purchase this UnFT, you will receive a physical, one-of-a-kind, hardcover edition of Fake Chess and all of its supplements. It will come with a hand-painted chess set. It will be numbered and signed.
NFTs fuck up the planet. When you purchase this UnFT, I will spend 10 hrs doing environmental cleanup and beautification. I will also plant 10 trees. This work will be documented on a disposable film camera which you will receive with film undeveloped.
NFTs are steeped in exclusivity. When you purchase this UnFT, Fake Chess will become free for all players, immediately and permanently. If you wish to be publicly credited, you will be.
Development log
Comments
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Thanks for the question! Two part response:
1 - The rule about the last piece captured is directly connected to the checkmate move. If a player captures all of their opponent’s pawns, they make it impossible for their opponent to checkmate. Keeping one pawn on the table means that there’s always a chance.
2 - Since you can win the game by capturing all of your opponent’s pieces, your final move of the game could be made with any of pieces (as you capture your opponent’s final pawn).
Hope that makes sense!
To me it was a bit confusing what the game sheets actually meant and I had to reread the rules a couple times. I think if you just made even a simple play video yourself where you played both roles, or had a friend to help, just to cover the setup and like 4 moves of actual play, it'd really clarify stuff.
if you don’t have the piece, you can’t mark/use the square.
if you’re making a beeline to the “checkmate” square, your opponent Can use this to slow you down. you can use the special move to continue uninterrupted.
if you’re trying to capture an opponent’s piece, this special move lets you do it, even if you don’t have the proper piece to use.
hope that makes sense!
A really interesting take on the game from Oscar / The Ugly Monster:
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"Fake Chess is a ludicrous game of pretend. Strategy, or even process, is unimportant. The more shameless showman gets to bend the rules more. Whoever bends the rules more will likely win. Just like real life.
"Fake Chess is the game of our time. Most of the world’s Rich and Powerful aren’t all that special. They just convinced enough people that they were long enough to escape the “gravity” of public opinion.
***
Read it here:
"Vladimir Putin and Elizabeth Homes are ‘Fake Chess’ Players"
Maybe someday!
(The entire game was built around me entertaining myself and continuing to ask "how ridiculous can this thing be?" ... so I feel like I know myself well enough to know that future Sean might not be able to let go of that cookbook idea.)
Thanks again for your support for & interest in this strange little game! Cheers!
Yep, that's exactly right.
- Pick up your piece.
- Remove your opponent’s piece.
- Plop down your piece.
Winning strategy has nothing to do with your pieces' positioning on the chess board -- instead, you're focused on moving to those shaded squares on yourgame sheetto capture your opponent's pieces -- either to win by capturing all your opponent's pieces first, or to obstruct your opponent by capturing the piece they need to progress on their game sheet.
