1. [Courier] 3 players. A standard game of chess, except checkmate results in victory for both standard players. The idea is that these two kingdoms have important information for the opposing king that would surely prevent a looming war. There is a third player, an assassin, who controls a single queen. Their objective is to mate either king before another player does, preventing them from receiving the information and ensuring war. The queen has a set number of lives, and respawns after a set number of turns.
2. [Rubix Board] 2 players. Standard Chess or Checkers, but played on checkerboard Rubix Cubes. Given the constraints of developing a checkerboard pattern on a cube, only one face of the cube would be “playable” at any given time. Each player gets one move of the cube and one move of a piece per turn.
3. [Spiral] 2 players. Player 1 controls 4 pawns, positioned on the edge of the board. By rolling dice, they move their pawns around the board and in a spiral pattern towards the center. Player 2 controls a set of Bishops that attempt to destroy the pawns before reaching the center. Pawns may destroy bishops, Pawns win when 1 pawn reaches a set distance into the board.
4. [BattleChess] 2 players. The same as Chess, however each player is able to call in an aerial strike on any square on the board. The strike takes 3 turns to arrive, and renders the affected square unplayable for the rest of the game. It can not be moved through or landed on. Only one strike per player may be in progress at a time, and both players are aware of which squares are being hit.
5. [Oops All Kings! / Game of Thrones] 2,4,6,8 players. Using normal chess rules, each player controls 1 king placed equidistant from each other near the center of the board. Last man standing wins.
Bonus Game: [EA Chess] 2 players. The classic game of chess is “improved” with microtransactions, allowing players to purchase additional pieces during gameplay.