CHESS
Standard chess rules apply. There are two ways to play a friend: online with a join code, or pass and play with 2 players on the same computer, phone or tablet. This is the only game currently in the catalog with online multiplayer! As with all of our games, you can also play by yourself. Beware of anything above easy mode! The computer chess player is a demon and can checkmate you in just a few moves. Easy mode for the casual player, medium and hard difficulty if you really know what you are doing.
How to play
To play against the computer, select 1 player, the color you play, difficulty and start. New Game returns you to the main menu. Undo is available on single player. To play 2 players on the same device, click 2 Players, then switch How from Online to Same Device, and press Start. White moves first, then pass the device to your friend for Black. The board flips after each move so each player sees it from their side. There is no Undo in Same Device mode. Resign will bring up a message; click OK to confirm. For 2 Players to play online, the host clicks on the 2 Players tab and, with “Online — Play a Friend” selected, clicks on Create Game. A random word will appear that you need to give to your friend to type in. The joining player will select Join Game and enter the code. This will start a multiplayer chess game. Your turn will be indicated on top. The game will survive if you accidentally close the tab or your phone goes to sleep. There is no Undo in online mode. You can click Resign to quit or Offer Draw to end the game in a draw.
Behind the game
I did not want to make the game without a multiplayer feature. This needed to be done without breaking the safety promise and without using a 3rd party host. I was able to use the platform that hosts the website, Cloudflare, and not use anything external. This goes along with not having a chat feature, making the game safe to play anywhere.
Hints
1 Player: start with easy. This mode is more forgiving and the computer will make sloppy mistakes. Medium and Hard are extremely difficult and require careful planning or chess expertise. 2 Players: the join code will last for 15 minutes. If the other player does not join within 15 minutes, you can generate a new code. The pictures below show how a join code looks for the person creating it, and how to set up a game on one device. Same room, one device? Click 2 Players, pick Same Device, and pass it back and forth.
