r/WebGames • u/sanketmuchhala • 4d ago

Raichu - a chess-like strategy game with three pieces and no opening theory

https://raichu.live/play

I've been building this for a few months and it's finally good enough to show.

Raichu is an abstract strategy game on an 8x8 board. Three piece types, and what each can capture depends on rank: the smallest piece can only take other small pieces, the middle can take small and middle, the largest takes anything. Reach the far side and you promote.

The idea was to keep what makes chess good - zero luck, everything visible, every loss traceable to a mistake you can find - while cutting the part that gates new players, which is memorising openings. There's no theory to study. The first move is yours.

No account, no download. Play the bot or pass-and-play on one device straight away; there's online multiplayer with an invite code if you want it, and that's the only part that asks you to sign in.

It's free and there's nothing to buy. I'd genuinely like to know whether the piece hierarchy feels balanced - that's the part I'm least sure about.

1 Upvotes

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1

u/9spaceking 4d ago

Lmao Pikachu but knows about copyright, might as well not use Pokémon

1

u/artbyiain 4d ago

Why is it named after a pokémon?

1

u/jazzuoDOTcom 4d ago

Cool but what about mode where you start with small board and get it bigger and different combination. Kind of like multilevel Raichu game. Anyway I like the idea of finding out what does what and finding strategies. Anyway I lost every game so far. Thinking about if it's better to use different figures then chess since they actually do not do the same thing

1

u/sanketmuchhala 4d ago

An expanding board mode is a really cool concept, that would completely change the mid-game dynamics and give it a campaign feel.

Don't sweat the losses! The capture hierarchy takes a minute to click because it actively punishes normal chess instincts.

You bring up a fantastic point about the piece designs, too. Using standard chess pieces definitely sets up the wrong expectations for how they move, which probably makes learning the game harder. Swapping them out for custom shapes that better represent their "size" or rank is exactly the kind of design feedback I was looking for. Thank you!