Checkmage! is a casual, free-form chess RPG with sandbox deck-building elements

A unique blend of genres I have for you here on GamingOnLinux today. Checkmage! blurs the lines between an RPG, chess and deck-building. There's a demo available that was just updated and it will have Native Linux support at release too.

The developer explains it as such: "The game is a casual, free-form chess RPG with sandbox deck-building elements. Whatever that's supposed to mean! You battle fellow students by placing pieces and casting spells on a magical floating chess board, and by moving one piece on the board per turn. The goal is to checkmate or capture the enemy king in a variety of peculiar situations.

It takes place in a universe where wizardry and spell-casting is so blasé, even the most scholarly of wizard students turn to distractions—such as Checkmage!—to entertain themselves."

Check out the trailer below:

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Features:

• 20+ thoughtfully-designed characters with unique personalities, battle strategies, expressive dialogue and backgrounds. You can rematch them and see their strategies and loadouts improve.

• 100+ unique pieces, tiles, and spells to collect and experiment with. Mixing and matching different cards in your deck provides endlessly creative ways to play with surprisingly deep and emergent interactions.

• 6 detailed, hand-crafted locations to explore. Characters you'll meet in one location show up in other places and change their dialog as you progress.

• A black wind blows through your body... Enter a creepy dungeon for an optional gauntlet mode where you fight randomly generated opponents.

The game should release sometime in 2026, whenever it's ready.