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• Dread Chess ✣

✣ Dread Chess is an original and strange narrative story-puzzle game with sandbox elements. Uncover mysteries by speaking with gods in Latin. Immerse yourself in an atmosphere of madness, and reach one of many endings in an unfair game against Death that can be played ONLY ONCE...

Steam Page
Developer
• NullTale
Publisher
• NullTale Scape
Release
September 7, 2025
328 days ago
Steam Reviews
Mostly Positive99 reviews78.8%

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Updated: Jul 14, 2026Developer scaleThe operating scale of the game's developer.
Updated: Jul 14, 2026Publisher scaleThe operating scale of the game's publisher.
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Search Google: Is • Dread Chess ✣ self-published or published by • NullTale Scape?Publisher statusHow the game's publishing relationship is classified.
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About the Game

✣ Dread Chess is an original and strange narrative story-puzzle game that you can play as a chess sandbox by setting asymmetric rules for the players, or explore it in search of different endings and achievments.

Key Features

  • Branching Narrative: Multiple endings based on your successes, failures, and the choices you make.

  • Asymmetric Rules Sandbox: Design unfair advantages or crippling handicaps—then see them in action.

  • Option to use Latin as main Language: "Mortales ludunt, dii rident"

  • Dark Atmosphere: Gothic pixel art, unsettling soundscapes, and a story that lingers.

  • Self-Playing Chess: Observe autonomous matches that reveal hidden truths and secret paths.

  • Spectator Mode: Sit back and watch the AI duel itself, or share the spectacle online.

Narrative Mode

Confront the God of Madness as it poses three life-or-death riddles—discover the answers by watching enchanted, self-playing chess matches unfold. Each choice echoes through a richly decorated, gothic pixel-art world, leading you toward one of several hauntingly endings.

Sandbox Mode
Unleash your creativity in a versatile sandbox environment. Customize asymmetric rule sets and go head-to-head against the AI—or a friend—in a variety of modes:

  • Card Mode: Choose from three thematic options (bad, average, good) for each move.

  • Tarot Cards: Global conditions that change the rules of the game.

  • Dice Mode: Roll the die to determine which chess piece you must move—luck may be on your side, or it may betray you.

  • Classic Mode: Pure, classic chess with direct control.

Discover Dread Chess and decide for yourself: can you outwit the God of Madness?

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