Play game
CHARK's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Gameplay | #87 | 3.863 | 3.863 |
| Audio | #156 | 3.698 | 3.698 |
| Enjoyment | #299 | 3.698 | 3.698 |
| Overall | #300 | 3.552 | 3.552 |
| Visuals | #364 | 3.917 | 3.917 |
| Innovation | #389 | 3.351 | 3.351 |
| Theme | #1122 | 2.785 | 2.785 |
Ranked from 205 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
How does the game fit the theme?
The King plays chess to earn his coin—and indulge in new sweets
What code and assets did you not make from scratch during the jam (if any)?
I didn’t use any asset packs or third-party resources—everything was made from scratch. I drew inspiration from the design of Balatro and Gambonanza
How many people worked on the game?1
Leave a comment
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Comments
Fantastic idea and very well executed—I had a blast playing! The art and music are delightful. Quick note: in Level 2 there was a moment when I had no playable card, so I skipped my turn, but it seemed the opponent also had nothing to play. The game then got stuck—the turn never came back to me and I had to restart. Overall, great job! I’ve added it to my list and will be following future updates.
Thank you very much, I have already contacted some guys and after the end of the jam we will actively work on updating this game to bring it to the most good and high-quality state. Follow and enjoy:)
Thank you so much for a kind words! If you want support project, adding CHARK to your Steam wishlist would really help me out!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3371170/CHARK/
It obviously takes a lot of inspiration from Balatro. That being said, almost all the direct pulls are visually. The gameplay is entirely unique and the loop is just any classic roguelike loop. I understand skirting some visuals for the sake of time, but I could see continued work on this with an art adjustment and seeing it be very popular. Great work!
- I like the chess gameplay.
- I think this game is a bit too derivative of Balatro, both the visuals and the gameplay. The mini-game loop of the chess gameplay is unique, but the "stakes", the poker chips, the items you pick up... feels too similar.
- I like the audio (both SFX and the music).
While I think the art and UI direction are a bit less "inspired by" and more directly taken from Balatro, the gameplay is entirely it's own and it's a ton of fun. It's well polished and totally scratches that strategy deckbuilder itch that I love so much. I think with an art overhaul you could release this on Steam with real success!
Thank you so much for a kind words! If you want support project, adding CHARK to your Steam wishlist would really help me out!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3371170/CHARK/
Chess + Balatro is right up my alley, and this game is very polished!
Unclear if it's a bug or I just wasn't reading the UI right, but I seemed to only get two moves per turn and would have expected 3. I also had some trouble reading the text until I fullscreened.
One of my favorite entries so far!
very cool game very polished !
Show post...
Yo, this game is so cool! Our game was compared to Balatro by someone, but this is definitely like it :)
great game. Once in the shop there were 2 cookies with different pictures, but with the same description. Wonderful music!
Not my type of game, but I really liked the visuals. The game feels very polished.
Very good implementation. Interesting idea. As I understand it, it is a combination of Balatro and chess. But it would be better if the game opened in full screen. The inscriptions are very small - difficult to read
Killed all the pawns possible but still lost? I suppose you have to buy those piece kill multiplier in the shop to win later levels. Very innovative game, probably got me playing the longest so far. The writing is really small and hard to read in the web browser and I didnt understand what the info was on the left on each piece, my movement history?
Great game.
Nice vibe but I didn't fully understand it and the text was to small to read for the shop items. Also, I defeated all enemies in one round but the game continued until I lost due to lack of points. It was unclear how points are earned. I have a feeling that with a tutorial this game could be a lot of fun. Feels very polished.
Very good-looking game! I didn't understand what to do once I'd taken all the enemy pieces, though, since there didn't seem to be any way to end the round
The balatro-style chess game has a pleasant sound, not an annoying cool soundtrack, the game is very addictive, I want to replay it. One of the disadvantages is the illegible text of the description of objects, some black shapes are not very clearly visible. I would also like to add minimal tutorial. Overall, it's a very good game, and I'd love to play it again and again!
Took a minute to figure out how to play. I'd say even after kinda understanding it's still unclear how to actually play. I think I'd be more invested if this played like a actual chess game but with the balaltro twist. I'd play the shit outta that game. Especially with a multiplayer mode! You should continue working on this!
prettry fun. i usually don't like card games. but this one is good
This game makes me want to learn chess again! Great concept
Wanted to give a good rating on the visuals, but since it's litteraly a copy paste of Balatro it's a bit hard to give...
The concept looks interesting, but as other said, it's very hard to understand how to play the game, and also requires knowledge of chess for playing.
I understand why it’s compared to Balatro, but they’re fundamentally different. Balatro is a poker game; mine is built around chess. What’s similar is a bit of UI styling and the broad progression/risk formula. The gameplay, goals, and mechanics were designed by me. Drawing on a formula isn’t a problem—many games do and make it their own. Thanks for the feedback; it helps me improve the game
I was talking about the visuals specifically since that's one of the criteria.
Balatro Chess works very well. The aesthetic is nice and I enjoyed playing it. There are a few quirks though, and it seems like the game needed a little bit more time in the oven in some places, like how the credits button doesn’t work. Aside from that nitpick though, the game is really solid.
I was confused on a bit of it, and some things were unclear. I think a tutorial would help, but very well executed! The sound and music design were amazing.