How It Works
Three steps to elemental chess mastery
Pick Your Elements
Before each game, assign elements to your chess pieces. Fire, Water, Plant, Air, and over 100 community-discovered elements are available to everyone. Your element loadout shapes your strategy — different combinations trigger different reactions.
Capture and React
When you capture a piece, the two elements combine — just like crafting. Fire plus Water makes Steam. Lightning plus Metal makes Electromagnet. The AI generates a reaction that reshapes the board around the capture: pushing pieces, creating hazardous tiles, stunning, shielding, and more.
Master the Board
Every reaction hits the area around the capture — your pieces and your opponent's alike. Positioning is everything: place your pieces to benefit from the blast while your opponent's get caught in it. Learn which element chains create the strongest effects across multiple captures.
Discover Elements
An ever-growing tree of elements shared by everyone
Start with four, discover hundreds
Every player has access to the same element pool, starting with Fire, Water, Plant, and Air. Each capture combines the two elements involved — Fire plus Water makes Steam, Stone plus Fire makes Magma, Lightning plus Water makes Storm. The combinations follow intuitive real-world logic.
Discoveries are permanent and shared across all players. When you find a new combination, your name is recorded as the discoverer for everyone to see. The element tree grows as the community experiments with new matchups.
Before each game, open the board editor to assign any element to your chess pieces. Build a loadout that matches your playstyle — aggressive fire-based elements, defensive shields, or tricky status effects.
Game Modes
Play your way
Local
Two players on one device. Share a screen and settle who has the better elemental loadout. Perfect for playing with a friend sitting next to you.
vs AI
Play against a computer opponent with three difficulty levels. The AI plays standard chess while you experiment with element strategies and discover new combinations.
Online
Create a room and get a 4-character code. Share it with a friend to start playing together. Full reconnection support — if someone disconnects, they can rejoin within 5 minutes.
Board Effects
Every reaction reshapes the board in a different way
Push
Shoves pieces outward from the capture point. Pushed pieces can collide with the board edge or block other pieces.
Stun
Freezes a piece in place for several turns. Stunned pieces cannot move or capture until the effect wears off.
Poison
A ticking countdown appears on the piece. When it hits zero, the piece is destroyed. Race to cleanse it or sacrifice it strategically.
Transform
Temporarily changes a piece into a different type. A pawn might become a queen — or your queen might become a pawn.
Invulnerable
Protected pieces cannot take damage or be affected by negative effects. A powerful but temporary defense.
Convert
Turns an enemy piece to fight for your side. One of the most powerful effects — but kings can never be converted.
Ice Tiles
Pieces that step onto frozen tiles slide across instead of stopping. Plan your movement carefully around icy terrain.
Burning Tiles
Tiles that damage any piece standing on them each turn. Control the board by creating dangerous zones your opponent must avoid.
Wall
Impassable barriers that block piece movement. Strategic placement can cut off escape routes or protect key positions.
Haven
Safe zones that protect any piece standing on them from debuffs. Strategic positioning on haven tiles can turn the tide of a game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know