Chess is believed to be invented somewhere before the 7th century, but, even after all these years, it still prevails as one of the best two-player strategy board games in history. Part of that is that you have to figure out what your opponent is thinking, what move they will make next and be five steps ahead of them. Nowadays, people love games based on luck and sports betting. On the other hand, if you are looking to play a more strategy inspired game that is based heavily on chess, here are the recommendations for you to choose from.
Final Fantasy Tactics
As its name states, this is a tactical game that asks of you to make strategies and think in advance. It is a role-playing game set in a medieval kingdom and it uses the theme of the Final Fantasy video game together with a 3D rotatable playing field. Just like in chess, one player’s characters are on one side of the field and the other’s on the other. Another one of the similarities is that the battlefield is composed of square tiles; however, movement and action ranges are determined by your job class and how well you play the game. Very similarly to chess, the battles in Final Fantasy Tactics are also turn-based. The graphics and the gameplay are very interesting but simple, and you will definitely notice the elements of chess underlying every part of the game.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
This is another one of the tactical games that make you think before you make a move. Just like the previous game, this is a role-playing one in which you take turns with your opponent during the battles. The gameplay is fairly simple – you need to form a team of several characters and fight battles on isometric grids. The characters have different classes and their movement is determined by their speed. As you level up, you will have access to more and more classes of male and female characters. You will definitely love this one if you are looking for a simple step up from chess.
Stella Glow
This one is the newest out of the four as it was released in 2015. It is more complicated than the rest and it has a very interesting storyline, but the basics that it shares with chess are still there. It is role-playing, the battles are turn-based, but the characters also have a lot more options like developing important relationships, ‘tuning’ the witches, buying necessary items and fighting monsters. You can also perform some jobs that are not essential to your main quest. Although it is more intricate than simple chess, any lovers of good strategy games out there are going to love this one.
Chaos Reborn
This game is also fairly new, but it was well-received right from the start. It offers a lot of playing choices, including both single player and multiplayer modes, as well as choosing between playing against another player or against the environment. The wizard is the most important ‘unit’ in this game and should be guarded until the end, similarly to how the king is the most important in chess. Players take turns using and changing other units in order to eliminate each other’s wizards. It also has a lot of outside influence and elements that are more complicated, but at its core, it is a simple strategy game heavily based on chess.
