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Pawnbarian

Pawnbarian is a puzzle roguelike. Use chess moves to control your hero on a tiny dungeon board and learn how to outmaneuver enemies with various traits!

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Very Positive

867 Steam reviews

Review History

Reviews

867 total

≥h

Steam User 6903STEAMRecommended

有卡有中文有成就

Mar 29, 2026·11h

Steam User 1597STEAMRecommended

I like the game but IT RELLY HARD TO WINF BUT EASY TO UNDERSTAN

Mar 25, 2026·51h·Verified

Steam User 8795STEAMRecommended

A really cool twist to chess.
It can be overwhelming remembering the abilities of each class, on top of what each enemy does, but once you get over the initial learning curve you'll be blitzing through each round. It's like learning how to play chess all over again.
Each game is just the right amount of length to be able to play this in short sessions.

Mar 24, 2026·18h·Verified

Steam User 2153STEAMRecommended

I like it! It feels quick to play, but I'm super annoyed by the blight and immunity.

Like with all deck-builder roguelikes, you need to synergize as much as possible to get free turns and hits so you don't get overwhelmed by the enemy's buffs. Planning is everything here.

PS, I'm thrilled this isn't a game with pixel graphics, which sort of dominates this genre.

Mar 22, 2026·2h·1

Steam User 7828STEAMRecommended

Vorläufig auf positiv nachdem Achievements nun funktionieren

Mar 20, 2026·2h

Steam User 9789STEAMRecommended

In this game you cant sacrifice THE ROOK bruh. Nevermind, the game is good <3

Mar 19, 2026·2h·Verified

Steam User 3300STEAMNot recommended

Game appears broken, at least on Steam Deck. Can only click start game via mouse, can't access other options. In fact, other options just shrink whenever hovering over them.

When starting a run, nothing is clickable or usable and no cards or prompts pop up. The Settings button is unclickable.

tldr; unplayable on Deck as of 03/18/26

Mar 18, 2026·2

Steam User 3982STEAMRecommended

不清楚，挂的

Mar 12, 2026·5h

Steam User 7956STEAMRecommended

Este es un juegazo.
Si bien su menu deja que desear en cuanto al diseño, por el resto es muy bueno la jugabilidad simple pero adictiva buena dificultad, pensar que jugada hacer a continuación siempre es muy gratificante.
El desafio es constante y hay distintos personajes que cada uno tiene sus cualidades que lo hace muy entretenido de usar a cada uno.
La verdad muy buen juego para tenerlo ahi y darle un par de partidas diarias o si te engancha para darle por horas intentando llegar a los niveles de dificultad maximos.
En conclusión vale la pena (nada que envidiarle a Slay the spire o Balatro).

Mar 11, 2026·10h

Steam User 9287STEAMRecommended

норм

Mar 2, 2026·5h

Steam User 0835STEAMRecommended

Pawnbarian is a lot of fun as a chess based roguelike. Once you figure out the moves, each attempt plays quickly, and there are a lot of interesting piece upgrades and variety as you progress. Challenging, but clever.

Feb 10, 2026·3h·1·Verified

Steam User 7723STEAMRecommended

Very simple roguelike spin on chess. I like it. Easy to get into and a playthrough only takes about 20-40 minutes.

Feb 10, 2026

Steam User 4001STEAMRecommended

[h2] 🥈 excelente jogo de puzzle por turnos [/h2]

Achei a ideia bem legal, misturar Xadrez, que já é um excelente jogo de lógica por turno, com dungeon crawler, que são divertidos e adicionam complexidade.
Você se move pelo pequeno tabuleiro 5x5 usando cartas. Cada carta é um personagem de Xadrez, como peão, bispo.
Deve pensar bem antes de cada movimento. A simples e clara interface do jogo te ajuda, indicando quanto dano irá receber em cada área, quais são as habilidades de cada inimigo e as suas. Você tem toda a informação necessária para executar seu próximo movimento, então é fritar o bacon pensando!

São vários personagens para escolher, cada um com diferentes habilidades. Gostei do berserker que ganha turnos ao receber dano! Ou o próprio Pawbarian, que promove um peão a rainha ao alcançar o lado superior do tabuleiro.

É um jogo simples que esconde uma boa complexidade, diversão e desafio

Feb 6, 2026·8h

Steam User 9698STEAMRecommended

I LOVE THE GAME

Feb 4, 2026·10h

Steam User 8665STEAMRecommended

Not perfect, you have to sometimes cycle cards and there are some unintuitive and annoying aspects however overall a massive joy for any fan of rogue likes, chess or strategy in general, also the ui is ugly but other than that it slaps.

Feb 3, 2026·1h·Verified

Steam User 8989STEAMRecommended

Once you figure out all the moves, of you and all the enemies, it gets a lot easier.

I died like 20 times before I figured this game out and beat my first dungeon campaign.

Worthwhile but it'lll test your brain power for sure

Jan 30, 2026·2h

Steam User 0301STEAMRecommended

Reminds me of old computer games in the 2000s with the main purpose of killing time. Boot up, complete a few runs, put down and don't touch until you get that itch again.

Based on the achievements it is meant to be played 10x with each character completing (3) different zones per playthrough. Which is going to be a grind.

It's a tactile puzzle game where you upgrade base cards that are drawn at random to be able to complete a set of floors to kill the final boss of the zone.

Jan 11, 2026·9h·Verified

Steam User 3816STEAMRecommended

규칙이 쉽고 칸마다 받는 데미지를 예측해줘서 좋음

운과 전략이 필요하나 난이도가 빡세지는 않음

로그라이크 요소는 거의 없는 수준

가볍게 즐기기 좋은듯

Jan 7, 2026·8h·Verified

Steam User 6958STEAMNot recommended

Boring and not for me

Dec 27, 2025·1h·Verified

Steam User 0175STEAMRecommended

fun, easy early levels, but daamn it becomes hard af towards the end xD

Dec 25, 2025·17h·Verified

Steam User 3148STEAMRecommended

juego que similar al ajedrez pero aderezado con nuevas mecánicas

Dec 23, 2025·5h

Steam User 3153STEAMRecommended

Dec 21, 2025·8h

Steam User 5221STEAMRecommended

Pretty cool chess roguelike puzzle game. I like it.

Dec 13, 2025·22h

Steam User 6515STEAMRecommended

󠀡󠀡

Nov 27, 2025·8h

Steam User 3108STEAMRecommended

Entertaining mixture between roguelike and Chess. Very enjoyable on occasion.
I'd say I'm just awful at the game.

Nov 26, 2025·9h

Steam User 5341STEAMRecommended

[h1]Chess Movement, Roguelike Heart[/h1]

Pawnbarian has a simple but clever idea at its core. It blends chess movement with a roguelike structure in a way that feels surprisingly natural. The card-based moves keep every turn interesting, and there’s always that moment where one good decision saves a run that looked doomed.

It’s genuinely tough, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to finish everything it throws at me, but the difficulty feels earned rather than frustrating. Even without fully beating it, I can appreciate how tightly designed and surprisingly addictive it is.
[list]
[*]♉For more reviews like this, check out my[b] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/10745643/]curator page[/url][/b].
[/list]

Nov 22, 2025·7h

Steam User 0045STEAMNot recommended

шахи для найрозумніших гномів підніжжя інтернету

Nov 12, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 0934STEAMRecommended

Un roguelike simple con mecánicas de ajedrez y shōgi.

Pawnbarian es un videojuego donde controlamos una única pieza en un tablero que debe eliminar el resto de piezas usando movimientos de ajedrez y shōgi en 7 rondas hasta llegar a un jefe.

No te preocupes si no has jugado nunca al ajedrez o al shōgi, pues el juego explica muy bien que hace cada movimiento y enemigo, además que se toma sus libertades para hacerlo más divertido, por lo que no necesitas ser un Kasparov para entenderlo.

El juego no tiene ninguna historia.

Intenta poner contexto a cada uno de los niveles del juego y sus enemigos, pero al final da igual porque lo importante es la jugabilidad.

La jugabilidad es muy buena.

Es un juego que mezcla roguelike con puzzles.

Como dije antes; tu controlas una pieza que tiene varios movimientos (en forma de cartas) para moverse por un tablero y tu objetivo es eliminar a las otras piezas (los enemigos) para ganar una ronda.

Entre cada ronda hay una tienda para mejorar estos movimientos, como darles daño en área, movimientos extra entre cada turno y escudos.

Finalmente, la última ronda es un jefe muy difícil de derrotar, pero que al hacerlo ganarás el juego. También por cierto, puedes continuar la partida en un modo infinito para ver que tan lejos puedes llegar antes de morir.

Ahora, todo esto está muy bien pero solo le encuentro un inconveniente: tiene poco contenido.

No me malinterpretéis, a mi me ha gustado lo que ha ofrecido, pero como roguelike también me ha parecido un poco soso.

El motivo es que al ser un juego dependiente de las mecánicas del ajedrez y del shōgi (dos juegos de mesa diseñados para jugar uno contra uno), pues está muy limitado al tener poco espacio para crear un juego ambicioso.

Me explico:

Los roguelikes son juegos mucho más grandes y ambiciosos de lo que parecen, por muy indies que sean. Tienen muchos personajes, objetos, habilidades activas, pasivas, enemigos, niveles generados de forma procedural, jefes, secretos, finales, etc...

Pawnbarian, en cambio, no quiere ser eso.

Quiere ser un sencillo juego de puzzles que te quiere hacer pensar como derrotar a una serie de enemigos repartidos en un pequeño tablero. Y todo depende de tu estrategia para derrotarlos, ganar dinero, mejorar tus movimientos y poder completar todas las rondas hasta llegar al jefe.

Todo esto lo digo para que luego nadie se lleve una desagradable sorpresa de pensar que este juego, como es un roguelike, pues va a ser igual que el Binding of Isaac pero con ajedrez o un Enter the Gungeon con shōgi.

El juego está más centrado en los puzzles y la estrategia que en los reflejos y la habilidad (por no decir del factor aleatorio que hace que cada partida se sienta diferente a la anterior).

En resumen:

Un juego que mezcla roguelike con puzzles, pero se siente mas puzzles que rougelike.

Pawnbarian no es una idea nueva, puesto que el ajedrez y el shōgi llevan existiendo mucho tiempo, pero busca crear nuevos conceptos a partir de una base ya establecida.

Desde mi punto de vista es una nueva perspectiva bien ejecutada:
Una sola pieza contra varias. Diferentes niveles con diferentes desafíos cada uno. Mecánicas nuevas. Enemigos variados. Jefes desafiantes. Y varias cosas para poder disfrutar durante un buen par de horas, aunque no sean muchas.

Dudo que a alguien pueda llegar a considerar que este se convierta en su roguelike favorito, pero estoy seguro que la mayoría podrá disfrutarlo.

Solo recuerda lo que dije antes: El juego está más centrado en los puzzles que en el roguelike. No lo compres si solo vas a pensar que este va a ser el nuevo Balatro pero de ajedrez en vez de póker.

Gracias por su lectura.

Oct 18, 2025·8h

Steam User 6834STEAMRecommended

Si te gusta el ajedrez, te recomiendo un acercamiento. Los gráficos son algo sobrios, pero es divertido y puede suponer un auténtico reto. Tal vez se eche en falta algún modo de juego más, pero es un título al que siempre te apetecerá volver en algún momento para jugar alguna partida.

Oct 16, 2025·4h·Verified

Steam User 8784STEAMRecommended

In my quest for more deck-based roguelikes I ended up learning chess I think.

Oct 7, 2025·35h·Verified

Steam User 9170STEAMRecommended

Changed my life. I have many many more hours on the IOS version.

Sep 30, 2025·2h·Verified

Steam User 5165STEAMRecommended

I did not expect anything when I installed Pawnbarian (I guess I got it in a bundle at some point), and I was very surprised to discover an extremely well crafted game. I could not stop until getting all achievements unlocked.

Pawnbarian is basically a rogue-like game based on chess rules. In dungeons presented as 5-by-5 chess grids, the player must make every turn a couple (or more) moves using cards representing chess pieces. Some of these cards have modifiers triggering additional effects (attacking nearby cells, playing once more, shield against attacks...). These modifiers can be bought in a shop after finishing each floor of the dungeon. The enemies, not from the chess world themselves, all have specific abilities: dodging the first it, forcing you to move, poisoning the cells they move to...

After playing this game for 65 hours, it is quite clear that the game desing is extremely well thought through. The design of each enemy is made to counter specific strategies. Here is a concrete example: some enemies have the "Void Grasp" ability, forcing the player to move in the direction of their attack when killing said enemies, and damaging the player if this move is not possible. This mechanic prevents the player for brainlessly stacking up attack modifiers, as strong area-of-effect attacks can kill several enemies with Nimble at the same time, severely damaging, when not killing, the player. This is a simple example, but the beauty of the game design goes even far beyond that. Having played through the game, I feel there was a hard work on makign sure that finishing all dungeons on the highest difficulty is challenging and demands a lot of strategic thinking, no matter which character is played.

Yes, there are characters, and their design is just as good as the rest of the game. There are 6 characters in total, and in spite of the apparent simplicity of the game principles, their playstyles are really different. It is a real pleasure to discover each of them and find their specific ways to beat every dungeon.

There are only 3 dungeons of 7 floors in the whole game, which is about the only point I think could be improved. Just like for the characters, all 3 dungeons are unique, with its own lot of enemies and should be dealt with a unique strategy. However, the fact that there are only three dungeons means you will be playing them in a loop. Reaching difficulty level X requires to beat all dungeons from difficulty I to IX, which can feel like a long grinding process. Fortunately, once a difficulty level is unlocked, it is unlocked for all characters, meaning you can go straight to difficulty X with your five other characters after unlocking it with one character. As said though, each character is unique, some playing the same dungeon with different characters will result in very different games.

To emphasize even more on the excellent quality of the game design, I would say that even if this game plays very differently than chess, it is a true, great tribute to chess, in the sense that at highest levels of difficulty, it really pushes the player to think two or three moves ahead. Careless preparation of your plan is punishing; you need to keep in mind every ability of every enemy, consider all possible cards that could be drawn for your next moves

I also praise the dev(s) for the very clear interface. There are a lot of information to consider at every step, yet you can clearly check everything by hovering your mouse at the right spots, you can check your own abilities, the abilities of each enemy, the cells each enemy can attack, the properties of each chess piece, and even the promotions for the Shogi pieces of the Shogun (yes, there is a Shogun character playing with Shogi pieces, yet another cool tribute). By default, without hovering your mouse anywhere, you have clear indicators of the expected damage you could take on each cell based on the current setup.

To conclude on this game that I really loved, something literally noone was asking for: my tier list of the characters, from strongest to weakest.

1. (S-tier) Mystic

The Mystic is by far the strongest character in the game. While it took me maybe 30 attempts for some characters to beat some dungeons at the highest difficulty (X), I first-tried each and every dungeon with the Mystic. She simply has too many strengths, especially defensively: an extremely strong mobility, Purify by default on some of her cards, and an easy access to three shield points by going back to one of her wards, in spite on not being able to buy shield modifiers. As if it was not enough, the wards block the enemies' movements, allowing her to control the flows and even defeat enemies with the "Nimble" ability more easily. Her only semi-weakness is that her mobilty is mostly defensive, and the pieces with which she can kill (mostly kings and bishops) don't give her much flexibility on how to kill. But even this flaw can be mitigated by buying attack modifiers for her ghosts pieces. Simply the strongest character by far.

2. (A-tier) Shogun

The Shogun is just super cool. He is quite technical to play since he mostly goes up the grid, but once the Shogi pieces promotion logic is well-understood and the powerful - although technical - dragon drop ability is mastered, I find him quite strong. My advice to play him: remember that even a zero-charged dragon drop gives a shield, and beware the promotions of Silver Generals and Knights, which can prevent you for doing a movement you thought you could do with the unpromoted piece (this killed me more than once...).

3. (A-tier) Nomad

Yet another character with a very unique playstyle. The Nomad is basically a rather static sniper. She has limited mobility, but the counterpart is that you can kill a lot of enemies without exposing yourself. She is affected by Void Grasp in very specific ways; once this is understood, you can benefit from her abilities to kill Void Grasp enemies in security, and even use Void Grasp to get additional movement.

4. (A-tier) Capyzerker

The Capyzerker, as the name suggests, is to be played with a very agressive playstyle, as the damage he takes automatically allows him to keep playing and he recovers far more health points in between floors. When the right level of aggression is found, the Capyzerker can cleanup dungeons much faster than other characters. However, you have to handle his lifebar very well, otherwise you easily find yourself destroying all floors until 6 and being too short on health to manage anything at the last floor (7).

5. (B-tier) Knight Templar

I found the Knight Templar to be really one level below most other characters. The reason is simple: apart from the second dungeon, and especially for the third one, you will find that stacking up Cantrips (modifiers that allow you to play once more) is a key strategy. If you stack 6 or seven Cantrips by floor 7, you often get to play 4 or 5 cards in a row before the enemies make any movement.
The Knight Templar cannot buy Cantrips, and can get at most only one Cantrip by playing two knights successively. This is a crippling flaw, making the final floor of the last dungeon very difficult to beat with him on the highest difficulty.

6. (C-tier) Pawnbarian

He may have given his name to the game, but the Pawnbarian remains its weakest character. His pawns (and he has too many of them in his card set) simply offer much too little mobility to be interesting. They can be turned into Queens at the highest row of the grid, however at the highest levels of difficulty you hardly get to choose where you go, because there are too many other factors (especially a lot of enemies) to consider. Beating the third dungeon on difficulty X with the Pawnbarian was a nightmare.

TL;DR: great game, hidden gem, a real beautiful tribute to chess (and Shogi), you will love it whether you like chess or turn-based strategy in general.

Sep 24, 2025·66h

Steam User 1688STEAMRecommended

Хорошая игра, из минусов:душные достижения

Sep 24, 2025·20h·Verified

Steam User 9867STEAMRecommended

very goooooood

Sep 22, 2025·5h·Verified

Steam User 0935STEAMNot recommended

[h1] To much Randomness not enough strategy [/h1]

This has to be one of the worst rougelite games i have played, i have played dozen of them and enjoy a deep strategy but this has non of that its too random with enemies that have extreme buffs even at low levels.
How about enemies that are immune to attack when next to your pawn and get to avoid the first damage each round? This is how it starts and gives you no time to understand the game or how to play just tosses boss level enemies right off.

Sep 10, 2025·1

Steam User 3445STEAMRecommended

I had fun with my limited experience.

Sep 7, 2025·3h

Steam User 1651STEAMRecommended

É um jogo bem desafiador, muito divertido!

Sep 5, 2025·11h·Verified

Steam User 2547STEAMNot recommended

am i just a moron? 9 hours of playtime, not one dungeon completed...

Sep 4, 2025·9h·1

Steam User 7053STEAMRecommended

Very interesting idea, done exceptionally well.
Not for me, personally, but it's a gem in it's own right.

Aug 24, 2025·2h·3

Steam User 6511STEAMRecommended

An absolutely brilliant game - so many innovative and interesting mechanics, while still beautifully simple.

Aug 21, 2025·77h·4·Verified

Steam User 3788STEAMRecommended

Really fun chess-themed game that actually makes you think

Aug 2, 2025·31h·Verified

Steam User 1632STEAMNot recommended

底子挺有新意的，但是关卡有点单调了，只有三个关卡，然后虚空之握其实感觉适合改成两个buff比如改成一个把主角拉过去，若不行则受伤，和相连buff，第三关最后那个关底有点看运气了感觉

Jul 26, 2025·4h

Steam User 6791STEAMRecommended

fun tiny lil chess violence board. one moment you're bloodthirsty Knight hopping over goblins, the next you’re a helpless Rook with nowhere to go LOL
i reccomend this if you like chess...and if you lyke to feel dumb and smart at same time heheee fun rogulike play on your phone to kill time :3

Jul 26, 2025·1h·1·Verified

Steam User 4060STEAMNot recommended

Really interesting concept, fun puzzles at first. BUT the over-use of immunity really ruined the fun for me. Not having enough control over what I drew or how to deal with immunity meant there were a LOT of turns of just running in circles until I got what I needed.

Jul 3, 2025·1h·6

Steam User 2725STEAMRecommended

Kinda frustrating at points, but I mean it is a roguelike. It's a cool take on a chess game

Jul 3, 2025·5h

Steam User 5522STEAMRecommended

Love this game so big thanks to the dev. It's just a really elegant puzzler based on chess pieces moves. The UI is especially worth a shoutout. It's so neat and tidy with very helpful, but non-intrusive explanations of how everything works. I'd also recommend the Android version because it plays great on that too. The only thing that I wasn't so sure about is the screen you see after you get to the end of a dungeon. There are these 4 pillar-type things you can collect before you exit but, as far as i can tell, there's not really a point in them so that confused me a bit. But that really is a very, very minor nitpick which in no way affects the fun and addictive gameplay. Would definitely recommend, even if, like me, you don't love and/or are crap at chess.

Jun 29, 2025·80h·1

Steam User 1162STEAMRecommended

The word "cantrip" has Scottish origins, possibly derived from the Gaelic term canntaireachd, a piper's mnemonic chant. It refers to a magic spell, trick, or minor supernatural effect. The original phrase appears to have been "to cast cantrips".

Jun 20, 2025·30h·2·Verified

Steam User 3023STEAMRecommended

喜歡解象棋殘局的話，這款遊戲真的很有意思，不知不覺就玩了好幾局

Jun 16, 2025·3h·Verified

Steam User 1469STEAMRecommended

neutral review

i think i really just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hate chess, man. wish i liked it more, its like the cool ancient thing thats been hot ♥♥♥♥ forever and you go and you see an old jewish man playing at the park with a black child or something and its hip its happening again its cultural across all walks of life

but it just dont get me going

so yeah, this ♥♥♥♥ way too much chess not enough roguelike wackiness for me. im sure thats why freaky ass nerds like it a lot, but it just aint for me man

Jun 12, 2025·1h·2

Steam User 2390STEAMRecommended

A fun and difficult at times (as it should be) chess based Rogue-lite. I enjoy The Ouroborus King better for a chess based Rogue-lite, but this one is good and challenging in its own right too. Totally recommend.

Jun 9, 2025·22h

Steam User 9385STEAMRecommended

Pawnbarian is a very nice little roguelike game you can return to once in a while. I played every character once and manage to get to the end at Difficulty 1 very easily. One of them even manage to Endless Level 9.

However, don't expect this game to be as addictive as other roguelike in the market. Once you mastered the mechanics and strategies, the game doesn't give much variations beyond "what to buy in shop". That's where I think this game could use some more additions to spice things up.

Jun 5, 2025·4h

Steam User 3648STEAMRecommended

Fun chess experience! If you like strategy games, I recommend this one! It's got some very complex ideas that are communicated in a smart, simplified way; taking tactical combat down to a single piece works really well. It sort of feels like iterative brain teasers, and that's fun!

May 29, 2025·4h

Steam User 0254STEAMRecommended

May 25, 2025·14h

Steam User 2885STEAMRecommended

This game has only one problem: "it is to short".
You simply want more. But this is a good problem to have. I would actually love for new content for this.
Still very addictive gameplay.

May 25, 2025·4h·Verified

Steam User 6113STEAMRecommended

While I had a hard time with the game at first, I'm glad I stuck through, this game is really fun.

May 9, 2025·8h·2

Steam User 2050STEAMRecommended

Pros:

- explains itself quickly and you're playing immediately
- fun mechanics executed well without any fluff
- satisfying animations
- lots of replayability, especially for the price
- easy to play with a trackpad
- can be played quickly/briefly or for a long time

Cons:

- none, buy the game right now

Seriously, great job with this game, really enjoying it. Will probably end up spending 10-20 hours in it.

Apr 27, 2025·11h·Verified

Steam User 8805STEAMRecommended

Pretty good, less cartoony than shotgun king but a lot of content.

Apr 24, 2025·7h

Steam User 2582STEAMRecommended

chess if it cost real life dolars and was epic

Apr 19, 2025·4h

Steam User 0992STEAMRecommended

Nice concept. Still working on mastering it.

Apr 17, 2025·23h

Steam User 9002STEAMNot recommended

Interesting concept - nothing more. half assed dev. limited play styles. no sense of progress, just a little bit of randomness. don't bother.

Apr 11, 2025·5h·5

Steam User 2259STEAMRecommended

一般

Apr 9, 2025·8h·Verified

Steam User 1766STEAMRecommended

Pawnbarian is an absolute gem of a game! As a warrior who fights with chess pieces, I never thought I’d find myself strategizing while laughing at the absurdity of it all. The quirky characters and clever puns kept me entertained for hours. Every time I thought I had a solid plan, a rogue pawn would surprise me, and I’d end up in a hilarious predicament. The combination of strategy and humor is spot on, making each level feel fresh and fun. If you’re looking for a game that challenges your mind while tickling your funny bone, Pawnbarian is a must-try!

Apr 4, 2025·9h

Steam User 1148STEAMRecommended

7.6/10 不能SL！一步走错后悔莫及为啥不能SL啊！

在重新学会并用SL的情况下，勉强还是体验到这个游戏的爽感了，突然感觉对一局的要求好高，每层打完最多买两个道具，也没有局外成长。

Apr 3, 2025·4h

Steam User 0933STEAMRecommended

Half roguelike, half chess puzzler and 100% addictive fun - this is a wonderful game that really demonstrates the principle that less is more. The gameplay is simple on the surface but a real thought-provoker, the UI is exceedingly clean, the soundtrack is great and the content has immense depth across its 10 difficulties, 6 'decks' and 3 maps. An absolute gem, glad I picked it up.

Apr 1, 2025·58h·7

Steam User 9508STEAMRecommended

Actually really well done, communicated clearly and anyone lying about the game difficulty can just look at the achievement retention. I don't know how anyone that saw screenshots, gameplay or read the tags couldn't muster that this is chess move set married perfectly to roguelike grid and deckbuilding. Shame it's not more popular, needed more Northernlion coverage. I like that you can almost play it clean but then you end up doing scrappy fighting, much like you would in the original Rogue. Highly recommended.

Mar 28, 2025·7h·1

Steam User 9828STEAMNot recommended

boring

Mar 27, 2025·1

Steam User 1524STEAMRecommended

Fun stuff.

Mar 18, 2025·25h·Verified

Steam User 9552STEAMRecommended

Nearly done with the game (Pawnbarian on chain X, rest on 9). Can say is a very fun little roguelite. Rounds are quick enough that when you die (and you will die), you can just get back on the saddle and back to where you were relatively quickly. Planning out where to go around the board, when you're willing to take damage and when you're not and if you should go for a subpar upgrade buy now or wait it out hoping that you can do better later are all satisfying. The game sort of overloads you with information initially but there's only about 20 different enemies and most are variations on a theme so you quickly figure out what they do and can navigate based on visuals.

Mar 10, 2025·102h·4·Verified

Steam User 1761STEAMRecommended

Deep. Neat. Smooth. Atmospheric. Beautiful. A dungeon-crawling roguelike distilled to pure, emergent tactical elegance. No excess. No fluff. In short, the best chess-inspired roguelike I’ve had the pleasure of playing.

Feb 19, 2025·4h·1·Verified

Steam User 0491STEAMRecommended

Well I don't like luck of the draw or chess, however I can see the appeal of this game. Not really a fan of the immunity stuff though, I found myself skipping turns quite often as the best choice.

Feb 6, 2025·5h

Steam User 9897STEAMRecommended

Roguelike chess, different from shotgun king, and in a sense, more like chess

Feb 2, 2025·6h·3

Steam User 4293STEAMRecommended

Jan 26, 2025·49h·Verified

Steam User 0701STEAMRecommended

nice

Jan 11, 2025·18h

Steam User 6526STEAMRecommended

Fun Roguelike Puzzle Game. One thing I would love to see added to the game is a way to track how many actions you have left on your turn. (Normally not a problem but I frequently get confused in Golem Dungeon when enemies have effects that make them move on your turn)

Jan 5, 2025·8h

Steam User 7065STEAMRecommended

小体量国际象棋类游戏，玩着不错，没有深度，只适合休闲

Jan 1, 2025·1h

Steam User 7949STEAMNot recommended

Too easy, but also with lots of annoying gotchas because the various effects / attack positions aren't illustrated in a very intuitive way. This tends to make it frustrating when you get hit because you didn't carefully read each monster on the board's effects in turn and figure out how they'll interact, but then storming through all the levels without getting hit is pretty easy. So kind of worst of both worlds.

[strike]It'd be useful to have the option of westernised shogi symbols for the Shogun. I've played Shogi so I thought it was cool that one of the characters had Shogi rules, but I don't speak Japanese and I'm not going to memorise the characters for each piece so that added even more layers to wrap my head around and didn't seem worth it.[/strike] Ok ignore this part, the developer has correctly pointed out I'm dumb and missed that the westernised version is actually right below the kanji.

I liked the concept but not the execution.

Dec 30, 2024·2h·4·Verified

Steam User 8409STEAMRecommended

Dec 22, 2024·52h·Verified

Steam User 3770STEAMRecommended

Overloaded my brain with all the attack patterns and had me crying in a corner after one game. 10/10

Dec 15, 2024·2h·1·Verified

Steam User 6112STEAMNot recommended

第三关不可能完成

Dec 14, 2024·4h·Verified

Steam User 1641STEAMRecommended

Addictive and AWESOME game. Some more content maybe?

Dec 9, 2024·329h·Verified

Steam User 2824STEAMRecommended

Игра заставляет подумать, редко когда меня игры так увлекают но эта смогла.
За счёт отсутствия сюжета и лёгких для понимания механик (где еще и подсказки есть) можно продолжать хоть через месяц, хоть через год. Реиграбельность большая, за счёт разнообразия героев и прокачки между уровнями, хотя я бы хотел побольше уровней, всё таки цепи (ограничения) - это совсем не то, что новые противники.

12 зараженных капибар из 10

Dec 7, 2024·10h·Verified

Steam User 4382STEAMRecommended

très bon jeu pour amateur d'échec et de stratégie
J'espère que de futur niveaux seront ajoutés

Dec 4, 2024·58h·Verified

Steam User 9051STEAMRecommended

If you know chess and are decent at turn based games it starts of pretty easy. But the concept is really fun!

Nov 29, 2024·2h

Steam User 8797STEAMRecommended

[h3]不得不说，咱又发现了一款上头的宝藏游戏！！！[/h3]
本作的棋子，也就是你的角色是按照手牌上棋子的移动方式来进行移动的，不同职业之间也拥有不同的一套牌或角色技能。当前共有6个职业，除了“将军”使用的是日本将棋手牌，其余职业基本都是使用国际象棋手牌。你需要做的就是在这张小小的棋盘上，用最小的战损取得最快的胜利——[u]回合越少，收益越高。[/u]

使用手牌前，可以预览下一步能够到达的位置，这个功能让即使没有国际象棋基础的玩家也能很快上手。同样的，预览每个格子也会显示到达该位置后所承受的伤害值，且还会显示伤害来源（来自于敌方单位或疫病）。反之，将鼠标移动到敌方单位也会显示该棋子的攻击范围以及技能、击杀条件等。

游戏总共有3个副本，每个副本的第7层就是BOSS所在的地方，击败BOSS之后再继续爬塔就是无尽模式。在第7层之前，每通过一层，可以使用金钱购买技能对手牌进行强化，不同职业能够强化的技能也会有细微的差别。[u]护盾技能的优先级永远是最高的，增加生命上限（心脏）的优先级在血量充足的情况下是最低的。[/u]

[b]关于当前三个副本所要注意的地方——
1.哥布林洞穴
除了要注意击杀敌方单位后留下的疫病，常规升级技能即可。

2.魔像堡垒
大部分敌方单位都有“再动”技能，由于所有敌方单位的“再动”技能会在我方使用拥有“再动”技能的手牌后同时发动，升级时应尽量避免将“再动”技能赋予我方手牌。

3.污秽祠堂
大部分敌方单位都有“虚空之握”技能，拥有“虚空之握”技能的敌方单位死亡后，会将我方棋子拉向发动攻击的方向。如果我方棋子无法被“虚空之握”移动（在棋盘边或有敌方单位阻挡），或者触发多次“虚空之握”（单次移动造成多次击杀），则按触发“虚空之握”的次数造成相应伤害——大部分时候，换血在所难免，优先升级护盾技能永远是你的最优解。[/b]

别看这个游戏体量小，节奏快也是能让你上头的一个关键因素，快到高难度你暴毙或者使用SL大法也就几分钟的事情——每个人玩的时候都会有下一把一定能过关的幻觉emmmmmm
只不过SL大法虽然好，但是碰到一些死局你还是得从头开始......

关于性价比方面，如果玩得进去，史低也确实值这个价。再者该作进过包，渠道购买属于喜加一那个价，还特么能掉卡，四舍五入约等于白嫖，这根本没有给差评的理由好不好？！

Nov 25, 2024·63h·3

Steam User 8746STEAMRecommended

Enjoyed this much more than I expected, would definitely recommend it.

Nov 25, 2024·53h

Steam User 7278STEAMNot recommended

I want to like this, but man its brutal. Not in the sense of "oh I could've played that better" but more like "this run just isn't possible." It's hard to invest time into something where I lose the game feeling I had zero chance given the randomness that was served to me. Someone might like this, but its just way to frustrating to play.

Nov 19, 2024·1h

Steam User 3604STEAMRecommended

novel idea

Nov 18, 2024·1h

Steam User 3873STEAMRecommended

I love this game but holy moly do I suck ass. 10/10

Nov 9, 2024·15h·3

Steam User 4516STEAMRecommended

Taktická tahovka, kterou dohrajete za cca. 30 minut, a pak si ji zahrajete znova na vyšší obtížnost, za jinou postavu, jiné sklepení … opakovaná hratelnost je opravdu skvělá.

Bojujete na šachovnici a vylepšujete karty mezi úrovněmi. Hrdina provede dvě akce, pak nepřátelé útočí a hýbou se. Hrdina se je snaží pobít, navíc co nejrychleji (větší odměna) a pokud možno bez ztráty zdraví. Potřebuje se totiž probojovat více úrovněmi až k bossovi, který obývá sedmou úroveň, a cestou za získané zlaťáky vylepšit svůj balíček.

Autor hru kdysi vydal jako flashovku, ale od té doby na ní dost zapracoval. Oproti původní hře, kde byla jedna postava a jedno sklepení, zde máte:
[list]
[*] Šest postav: Pawnbarian, Templář, Šógun, Nomád, Kapyzerker a Mystik.
[*] Tři sklepení: Gobliní jeskyně, Pevnost golemů, Špinavá svatyně
[*] Deset řetězů: Umožňují postupné zvedání obtížnosti, jak se hráč zlepšuje.
[/list]

Postavy mají odlišné balíčky i herní mechaniky, a různá omezení na vylepšení. Sklepení mají různý výběr monster a odlišné bosse. A řetězy hru dělají o dost náročnější: Máte víc nepřátel, všechno stojí víc, sami šíříte plesnivinu atd. Vyhrát s desíti řetězy už vyžaduje, abyste to zahráli chytře a ještě k tomu měli trochu štěstí. A abyste hru splnili na 100 %, tak musíte vyhrát s desíti řetězy za každou postavu. A pak je tam ještě gauntlet …

Hru vřele doporučuji a to klidně i za plnou cenu. Je to zábava na desítky hodin. Pokud ovšem nespěcháte, tak ve slevě je to opravdu lidovka.

Nov 3, 2024·77h·1·Verified

Steam User 4375STEAMRecommended

Some really minor critiques,
1. Information on how your character attacks sometimes isn't very clear from the description alone. 'Nimble' for instance, says with the buff an enemy will dodge the first attack of the turn. This applies to all enemies of the turn with nimble as a buff, and interacting with all the enemies on screen at once can lead to mistakes which don't feel like your own. It's a game about thinking ahead, but sometimes the impact of your turn can be unclear, and due to the nature of the games strategy, your run can end and you can die immediately. This won't affect people who are really familiar with the games mechanics, but it did cost me some enjoyment.

2. The style and aesthetic of the game is really basic and hardly evolves through progression. There isn't a whole lot of variety in the appearance of the game between three dungeons, so the tone and feel of the game really wanes on the experience. The Shogun was easily the coolest class in the game because the pieces become completely unrecognisable, replacing their icons with kanji. This leads to a play style that's very methodical.

3. I consider having beat this game as I completed all three dungeons with the default character. I wish the game had more variety in terms of enemies, dungeons, and just a feeling of progression beyond a number, but it has plenty of variety in it's strategy. I'm a big fan of chess, and seeing these different play styles really adds a unique variety, but honestly, chess is the better, more captivating game. Here I'm met with completely different styles of interacting with the same rules, but while I like the progression of how getting better at chess evolves over time and many many games played, here it's a matter of repetition. It feels like beyond the scope of the main three dungeons and their bosses, there's no real end goal I'm working towards.

[i]"Nothing but death awaits you here"[/i]

4. The card system is arguably the worst aspect considering the game's adaptation of chess rules. I hate limited options in terms of gameplay, and chess has none of that. It creates a unique interaction between the player and the game where random chance impacts the strategy, and it's very necessary for the experience, but with RNG, it leads to turns and moves where you unavoidably have to take damage. Not for me.

Overall, there's a lot I didn't necessarily enjoy here, but if you're looking for a casual game with a simple theme of chess and medieval combat, it's not bad, and in terms of gameplay strategy, there's a lot of distinct and engaging playstyles, difficulties, and the three major dungeons which do provide a good sense of challenge. But it kind of ends there.

6/10.

Nov 2, 2024·3h

Steam User 2372STEAMRecommended

ive put off a review for far too long, and now ive finally beaten chain X, i can say this game is great. a fun core idea of chess puzzles built out into battles, then adding well crafted mechanics and abilities on top of this leads to an experience i always come back to, even after months of not touching it. not for the faint of heart as boy does the difficulty intensify, but you can shake this off with the large variety of characters that each feel completely different, even with their basic ideas being rather similar

Oct 17, 2024·97h·4·Verified

Steam User 3256STEAMRecommended

Aunque podría hacer más por mejorar la interfaz, lo cual suele marcar la diferencia en este tipo de juegos, lo cierto es que sí que me ha dado los suficientes ratos buenos como para que se gane el aprobado con cierta soltura.

Análisis completo en El BloJ
[url]https://elblojdeneojin.blogspot.com/2024/10/pawnbarian-ajedrez-rogue-like-analisis.html[/url]

Oct 15, 2024·7h

Steam User 6842STEAMRecommended

I was not expecting this game to be as good as it is.
There is more than one way to upgrade your pieces, which makes both the main game and chain levels replayable while still being challenging.

It's like playing chess against a Xenomorph that sprays acid everywhere when you take one of it's pieces. Whats not to love about that?

Oct 9, 2024·46h·6

Steam User 8582STEAMRecommended

Great riddles with a bit of luck for chess players

Sep 23, 2024·7h

Steam User 2545STEAMRecommended

When chess meets roguelike

체스가 로그라이크를 만났을 때

Sep 15, 2024·8h·14

Steam User 9069STEAMRecommended

It's very fun. Short, simple and easy to understand. There's a lot of challenges you can grind out if that's your thing. Just a really solid game with very solid mechanics.

Sep 12, 2024·6h·Verified

Steam User 8754STEAMRecommended

It's a good "thirty minutes at a time" type of game. There's a very solid general structure that's worth coming back to, but's it's not the type of game with a high degree of customization, leading to quick and fun runs. Then you ragequit after getting bodied

Sep 11, 2024·2h·3·Verified

Steam User 9410STEAMNot recommended

It is just about okay and not worthy of a recommendation. Calculations, tactics and strategy go out of the window quickly as enemy movement can't be predicted and the entire gameplay fall flat. There is not much to this tiny game.

Sep 10, 2024·3h·2

Steam User 1945STEAMRecommended

Most important thing that you should know about this game, the inherence, is that it produces permanent brain damage.
Brutal.

Sep 3, 2024·86h·25·Verified

Steam User 0068STEAMRecommended

Mejor juego para jugar mientras q ves youtube de fondo.

Sep 1, 2024·8h·Verified

LANGUAGE	AUDIO	SUBTITLES	INTERFACE
English	—	—	Y
Chinese (Simplified)	—	—	Y
Chinese (Traditional)	—	—	Y
Danish	—	—	Y
Finnish	—	—	Y
French	—	—	Y
Hungarian	—	—	Y
Italian	—	—	Y
Japanese	—	—	Y
Korean	—	—	Y
Polish	—	—	Y
Portuguese (Brazil)	—	—	Y
Russian	—	—	Y
Spanish (Spain)	—	—	Y
Swedish	—	—	Y