Wild New Game Has One Million Chessboards Operating Simultaneously

The developer behind viral browser game One Million Checkboxes is back, and this time there’s One Million Chessboards. The online browser game has no real rules or win states: It simply lets players loose on a playground–or battlefield–made up of a million chessboards.

The rules of One Million Chessboards are simple: “Moving a piece moves it for everyone, instantly. There are no turns. You can move between boards.” Other than that, players are free to do what they wish within the bounds given–whether that’s capturing as many enemy pieces as possible, capturing as many enemy kings as possible, taking on another player in live combat, or just getting creative with it.

The game tracks a number of stats that add depth to how players may choose to engage with it–the total number of pieces remaining on the board for both black and white teams, and the total number of kings remaining for each team. You can also track your stats as an individual player by number of captures and number of moves made, and you can even find a nearby online player to engage in live battle by clicking the skull icon in the navigation panel.

One Million Chessboards

Every piece on the board also tracks how many moves it’s made, how many pieces its captured, and even collect special tags based on its activity. Extra-lethal pieces even pick up an icon that’s visible to all players without the piece being selected.

The project comes from experimental developer Nolen Royalty, who also goes by Eieio. “I like putting games in surprising places and helping strangers interact on the internet,” Nolen says of his work, and One Million Chessboards is the most ambitious manifestation of that ethos yet.

Nolen says the project is the “most technically challenging thing” he’s worked on in some time, and his website gives a brief rundown of what’s happening under the hood to keep its 1 million chessboards tracking.

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