CHARK is a smooth Balatro-inspired chess roguelike and I've become an instant fan

Balatro started another clear trend in gaming, with multiple games spawning like it and CHARK seems like it could end up being a real gem.

CHARK is a chess roguelike with a very similar setup to Balatro. Taking the basics of chess but turning it into something quite different overall, as it's based on rounds where you're trying to beat a very specific score of taking down enemy pieces on the board. You earn money as you go to buy extras in a shop to help you really screw with it and build up a ridiculous score.

The setup gives you a small cut-down version of a chess board containing your Queen and a few enemy pieces. You move your Queen across the board using cards, with each card being a different chess piece — so you get to use their moves to take out enemy pieces and build up that score to reach the goal.

While it still needs some work to make certain bits clearer, and no doubt a fair amount more content, what's there already in the idea of it is really good.

Another game does exist that merges together chess with Balatro in Passant: A Chess Roguelike, although that is still a fair bit different to the setup here in CHARK so that they're both quite unique. CHARK is simple, effective and has turned into a really nice way to kill some time and I think you'll like it too.

Check out the initial trailer below:

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The game is still in the earlier stages, with the developer currently looking for a publishing partner. You can try it out right now though, and no need to install anything as you can play it right in the browser.

Try it free in the browser on the itch.io page.