Over 35 new games will be on show at GaMaYo on 21st November with 400 developers attending the event to try them out alongside publishers, investors and platform holders. The event is managed by Game Republic along with their Official Partners Red Kite Games, Barclays Games and Creative and Escape Technology
Today we look at demo number 9 confirmed to be at GaMaYo- a game from Iteration Games
An Elaborate History of Chess
What would be your description of your game?
An Elaborate History of Chess is a puzzling strategy game set in the thrilling historical world of the classic tabletop game, Chess. Grow your kingdom by farming and crafting in the real-time overworld and send adventuring parties into the turn-based dungeons. By conquering the kingdom, you’ll find answers to all of Chess’s great mysteries, including what an ‘en passant’ is and why the horse moves in an L-shape.
How did development start? Were there any key inspirations or ideas that drove you?
After launching our first game, Paper Pirates, in 2020, we’ve been through a few different ideas and concepts for our second game. We really wanted to make sure that whatever we made, players would look at the game, and immediately understand what they needed to do, which was something we struggled with when making Paper Pirates. After weekends of playing chess and cosy survival games like StackLands, the idea for An Elaborate History of Chess was born, where people could apply all their chess knowledge in a new way! From there, the idea has grown in scope, and now has elements of survival games like Minecraft and Don’t Starve, turn-based combat games like Fire Emblem and the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, alongside the traditional puzzling elements of chess itself.
Tell us about the team behind the game?
Iteration Games are a small team of three based in Manchester. The team was originally formed in 2019 for the Tranzfuser competition, which provided a platform to develop Paper Pirates which released in February 2020. All the team have studied at Manchester Metropolitan University, and the team maintains strong links with the University through both study and work.
What kind of experiences do you hope to bring players?
We want players to feel a range of tensions through An Elaborate History of Chess. There are moments of panic and peril in the real-time overworld as your kingdom is swarmed by zombies, balanced against more tranquil but tricky puzzling opportunities in the turn-based dungeons. A really big thing for us is the thrill of discovery, so as you progress through the game, there are tonnes of unlockables, new pieces, and upgrades that will allow the player to really feel a sense of ownership over their kingdom.
In 10 words or less, highlight the appeal of the game?
A chess game with farming, dungeon crawling, and base building.
Any links to access/wishlist the game?
An Elaborate History of Chess is available to wishlist on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.
