A Bold Opening Move - Just Chessing Around Demo Out Now! A Roguelike Twist on Chess.
Discover a fresh roguelike take on chess where hazards reshape the battlefield and every run offers new upgrades, pieces, and strategies.
4 AUGUST 2026 – Belgian indie game studio Cabbage Club made a bold opening move: they released Just Chessing Around's demo on Steam, and now it's your turn!
The clever chess roguelike is also taking part in the Six One Indie Demo Showcase at the moment, so now is the perfect time to give it a try!
Play chess in a way you’ve never seen before, with tornadoes wiping the board, quicksand swallowing your pieces or tall grass hiding your enemies. Unlock buffs to make even your Pawns overpowered, call in the support from necromancer Bishops or rule the board with infinitely moving Knights.
Just Chessing Around's Official Demo Trailer:
The demo is out now, and previews/videos are massively appreciated to help get the word out. Press & Creators who also want to cover the full game closer to its Q4 2026 release can put their name on the list here:
Request a Full Game Steam code for Just Chessing AroundSteam Page: store.steampowered.com/app/4592040/Just_Chessing_Around
​Press Kit: Google Drive
​Press Contact: cabbage.club.games@gmail.com (Interviews welcome!)
About the game
A Roguelike Chess Strategy game with a medieval setting. You travel through chessboards with one goal in mind: to defeat the dark king. Each board escalates in difficulty, introducing new enemy pieces like mages as you go.
Unlike other chess games, these boards have actual environments that change the way you play. Water reshapes the board & quicksand forces you to keep your pieces moving.
It’s inspired by the Binding of Isaac & other traditional roguelikes, in that it doesn’t explain anything to you. You’re supposed to learn by doing, not by reading.
Key Features
- Old & Custom Pieces - Along with the classic pieces such as bishops & knights, there’s also Jerry.. just Jerry for the demo. With more in the full game.
- Buffs & Items - Make your army overpowered by filling up your buff slots with synergizing buffs. You can also use items such as fire bombs to decimate enemy armies.
- Bosses are players? - Everything you can do, the enemy can do. With minibosses giving their own army buffs, items & even flying them across the board.
- Chess boards reimagined - Instead of flat boards, each tile can have a hazard on them. Ranging from spike traps to tornadoes, lightning or… slime?
- Reactions - Every piece has a mind of its own, even if they can’t move. Watch them react as they're sinking in quicksand, for example.
For more updates on Just Chessing Around: ​
​Wishlist on Steam | Join the Discord | Follow the developers on Socials
About the Studio
Cabbage Club are 2 friends who met in college. We’re working on a fusion of both our passions inside a medium we both studied: games. We’re based in Belgium. One of us has already released a commercial game before & another makes some kick-ass music he’s releasing on Spotify!
Just Chessing Around was made possible thanks to the support of Flanders Game Hub.
Copyright © 2026 Cabbage Club, All rights reserved.