3Chess

3-player hex chess where calculation alone won't save you.

Strike one, the other wins. Strike none, you fall.

🎮 Free demo · Windows · macOS · Linux
Play vs AI (3 difficulties) · online ranked · private rooms with friends.
No account needed. Scroll down to Download demo — or click on the right panel.

THE OPENING

Three sit down. A hex board. No one is across from anyone.

Face one, and your back is bare to the other.

The game has not started yet.

THE SILENCE

Ten turns pass. No one has struck.

Everyone knows — the first to attack opens their back to the third.

That silence is the loudest moment in the game.

KILL, OR SPARE?

Your friend is losing. You can end them now.

But if you do, their pieces lock the board. And the third player has been waiting for exactly this.

The move that does not kill is louder than the one that does.

THE KINGMAKER

You are losing. No way out.

But your last move decides who wins — the one who betrayed you on turn 12, or the one who never touched you.

The dying player holds the most power.

Trust lasts exactly one turn. There are no promises — only the move where you did not kill them, yet.

THE THREE

Gold · amber light on brass. Speaks last. Strikes hard.

Azure · iron under moonlight. Watches three moves ahead. Strikes when you forget they are there.

Crimson · blood on snow. Strikes first. Regrets second.

They are not teams. They are never allied. Any two of them lose to the third.

RULES IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Standard chess pieces — King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight, Pawn. Hex geometry adapts the moves: Knight reaches 12 directions (instead of 8), Bishop is locked to one third of cells (instead of half), pawns push toward the opposing side and capture on outer flanking diagonals. Three armies of 15 pieces each start on a 127-cell hex board. Eliminating one player does not end the game — their pieces remain as neutral obstacles, and the third player exploits the gap. Cascading checkmate is possible: a single move can mate two opponents at once.

WHAT IS ON OFFER

• 3-player chess on a hexagonal board (127 cells)
• Standard chess pieces, new geometry
• Every capture helps a third mind you can't see
• Ranked online · offline AI (3 levels) · private rooms with friends
• 4 board themes (Pastel · Ivory · Classic · Dark)
• End-to-end encrypted casual rooms
• No ads, no subscriptions

EARLY SUPPORTER OFFER

Buy 3Chess on itch.io ($9.99) and receive a free Steam key when it launches on Steam (target Q3–Q4 2026).

Every supporter is named in the credits.

CURRENT BUILD (v0.1.0)

• Board + 3 armies + standard chess rules  ✅
• Offline AI (Easy / Medium / Hard)  ✅
• Online ranked matchmaking  ⚠️ beta — bugs reported go straight to fixing, not a queue
• Private rooms with friends — end-to-end encrypted  ✅
• 4 board themes  ✅
• In-game Learn (rules + piece movement)  ✅
• Community tutorials & opening theory  ❌ grow over time
• Mobile version  ❌ planned 2026
• Switch version  ❌ planned late 2026

A PRIVATE TABLE

Casual rooms between friends are end-to-end encrypted. Only the three players hold the key.

When the game ends, the server forgets.

Ranked and matchmaking are different — the server records those for anti-cheat and rating. But if you and two friends want to play like you're sitting at a table with no one watching, you can.

WHAT THE BOARD ASKS

Chess asks how well you think. This board asks how well you read people.

If you lose, it will be because you trusted the wrong person. And you will want to come back.

The rules are chess. The game is not.

LEARN THE RULES

Full rules and piece movement are in the game — main menu → LEARN.

Steam, Switch, and mobile coming through 2026.