Gambonanza transforms chess into a bite-sized roguelike
Checkmate
- Gambonanza is an upcoming twist on the formula of chess, arriving on mobile this year
- Take on a tiny board and work to capture each individual piece
- Gambits and novel pieces offer various upgrades and abilities to turn the tables on your opponent
Chess is a tabletop classic that's been reimagined countless times. From cult hits such as Battle Chess, which reimagined it as a fantasy conflict, to Shotgun King, which discards the usual rules entirely in favour of a 12-gauge armed piece. But there's always space for a new twist on a timeless formula, which is exactly what the upcoming Gambonanza offers.
Right off the bat, Gambonanza offers a significant spin on classic chess. Rather than the familiar board size of 64 squares, Gambonanza narrows it down to often half of that, if not less. Not only that, but the tight confines of this board bring a new challenge as your objective is now to capture every single piece, not just putting the King in checkmate.
It's not hard to see the influence of something like Balatro, with the focus on roguelike upgrades, combos and swirling psychedelic background. But respect where it's due, developer Blukulele are tackling a whole different challenge by taking the formula to the world of chess.
And of course, with that influence comes the signature version of the famous Jokers, or in this case, Gambits.
Gambits are novel pieces, moves or upgrades that offer you everything from superpowered Bishops to forcing your opponent to skip their turn. Making smart use of the dynamic reserve system to store useful pieces off the board and upgrading different tiles to cause other effects will also be key to succeeding.
All that with retro graphics and a variety of mini-games to offer further challenges. Gambonanza is slated to hit both mobile and PC this year. And Blukulele have assembled what they deem an indie dream team for the task, with ATEO (who recently helped port Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot) handling mobile duties.
And I, for one, think I'll be keeping a close eye on it, given my well-documented love for (and lack of talent at) Balatro.
In the meantime, if you want to see what other big releases like this are making a splash, why not check in regularly on our list of the best mobile games of 2026?
