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Black King's Defense
Build a maze out of chess pieces and defend your king in this Tower Defense take on the timeless classic, Chess! Pawns, rooks, bishops, knights and queens strike by their own moves as the white army marches across a 3D board, through a full hand balanced campaign.

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Features
Single-player
Steam Achievements
Steam Cloud
Family Sharing
Steam is learning about this game 
Languages:
Interface Full Audio Subtitles
English ✔
This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: Nov 6, 2026

This game plans to unlock in approximately 2 weeks

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About This Game


Black King's Defense is a chess-piece maze defense game. The white army enters at one end of an 8 by 8 board and advances toward your king. Every black piece you place is both a wall that bends their route and a defender that strikes by its own chess move.

Verifiably solvable, nearly infinite ways to play

There are more possible games of chess than there are atoms in the universe, yet finding even one winning army in Black King's Defense is a real challenge! Put your chess and tactic skills to the test with this genuinely challenging chess puzzle, with each enemy wave of the campaign being pre determined, so you can adapt your strategy and defense, progressing further each run. 

Upgradable pieces, with special moves

Strength, speed and range upgrades build your army's power. And each piece has it's own special upgrade to change the flow of your defense! Hover an upgrade to preview exactly which new squares it will reach.

A full campaign

  • A full hand-authored campaign, balanced to be difficult but with many possible solutions.

  • Endless mode, for as long as you can hold out.

  • Replay the last wave: pause it, slow it down, orbit the board and see exactly where you lost health.

  • Save and quit mid-run; Continue your game where you left off. Autosaves after each wave as well. 

A board that plays the piano

The original piano theme, The Ivory Rain, is timed on the same clock as the battle. Slow the game down or speed it up and the music changes with it. (You can also shut off the music in the settings to vibe to your own beats and relax)

Checkmate

Loss is only the beginning. Rethink your strategy. Learn the White King's patterns. Dive back in and defend your kingdom! 

Solo Dev Project

Hey there! Thanks for reading all the way down here. I am Canonheim, a solo dev making indie games in my spare time. This game was inspired by my Dad, who would stay up until 4am playing old flash tower defense games like this, and who was also incredibly addicted to chess. I hope you enjoy! 

System Requirements

Windows
macOS
SteamOS + Linux
    Minimum:
    • OS: Windows 10 64-bit
    • Processor: Dual-core CPU, 2.0 GHz
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Vulkan-capable GPU, e.g. GeForce GTX 750 / Radeon R7 260X / Intel UHD 620
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    • Additional Notes: Requires a Vulkan-capable GPU
    Recommended:
    • OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit
    • Processor: Quad-core CPU, 3.0 GHz
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 / Radeon RX 560 or better
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    • Additional Notes: Requires a Vulkan-capable GPU
    Minimum:
    • OS: macOS 12 Monterey or later
    • Processor: Apple M1, or Intel Core i5 (64-bit)
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Apple silicon GPU, or a Metal-capable Intel/AMD GPU
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    • Additional Notes: Universal build (Apple silicon and Intel).
    Recommended:
    • OS: macOS 13 Ventura or later
    • Processor: Apple M1 or better
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Apple M1 GPU or better
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    • Additional Notes: Universal build (Apple silicon and Intel).
* Starting February 15, 2024, the Steam Client will no longer support 32-bit games or macOS 10.14 or lower.
    Minimum:
    • OS: Ubuntu 20.04 64-bit, SteamOS 3, or similar
    • Processor: Dual-core CPU, 2.0 GHz (x86_64)
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Graphics: Vulkan-capable GPU, e.g. GeForce GTX 750 / Radeon R7 260X / Intel UHD 620
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    • Additional Notes: Requires a Vulkan-capable GPU and up-to-date drivers (Mesa 22 or newer on AMD/Intel).
    Recommended:
    • OS: Ubuntu 22.04 64-bit, SteamOS 3, or similar
    • Processor: Quad-core CPU, 3.0 GHz (x86_64)
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 / Radeon RX 560 or better
    • Storage: 500 MB available space
    • Additional Notes: Requires a Vulkan-capable GPU and up-to-date drivers (Mesa 22 or newer on AMD/Intel).