Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: Chess, but all your army has gone over to the white side, leaving you with nothing but your royal shotgun and your wounded pride. Carried by your dark folly, you decide it's time to teach those white pieces to fear the Shotgun King.

    Every turn, you may either move your king or shoot at
    Chess, but all your army has gone over to the white side, leaving you with nothing but your royal shotgun and your wounded pride. Carried by your dark folly, you decide it's time to teach those white pieces to fear the Shotgun King.

    Every turn, you may either move your king or shoot at enemy pieces, after what you'll need to move again to reload your shotgun. Avoid checkmate and kill the enemy king to complete the floor. After each floor, you may choose between two random combinations of one upgrade for you and one upgrade for the other side. Choose wisely and keep on winning floors and you just may get your kingdom back.

    Runs may take ~20 minutes to complete. The game features 5 difficulties, plus an endless mode!
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. 80
    The presentation and content of Shotgun King will put a lot of people off. However, if you like chess and rogue-based games it is well worth a bash. I adored its presentation, it reminded me of games form my youth, yes, I am that old. Pairing one of the oldest games on the planet with rogue-lite elements works far better than it has rights too and Shotgun King is truly unlike anything else I have played. We need more games like this, its what drives the industry forward in a sea of cut and paste shooters and RPG's.
  2. Aug 24, 2023
    80
    Even with its goofy premise, Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is a cleverly strategic roguelike that'll certainly keep you hooked.
  3. Aug 24, 2023
    80
    It may look basic, but don’t be fooled: Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is packing one hell of an enjoyable strategy game underneath its old-school aesthetic. If you’re not a chess fan you’re going to struggle – but if you are, the only struggle is going to be tearing yourself away from jumping in for just one more game. Playing chess has never felt so bad-ass.
  4. Aug 24, 2023
    70
    It's a very concise game with a laser focus on its core idea. Framing the action with lo-fi presentation and a daft plot about the black army defecting to the white kingdom, it feels like a forgotten 90s PC game. To that point, there's not much to it beyond the main mode, though there are extras for clearing it — Endless mode is self-explanatory while Chase mode is a interesting take on survival. It's a tight-knit package that, while repetitive in the end, succeeds with its less-is-more approach.
  5. PLAY
    Sep 27, 2023
    70
    The premise seems silly, but thought has gone into this chess-shooter mashup. However, difficulty spikes and lack of replayability mean it struggles to hold attention. [Issue#32, p.81]