Passant: A Chess Roguelike Review

Passant: A Chess Roguelike asks a question I doubt many people have asked: what if chess was a roguelike? Well, developer Marc Makes Games answers that with their latest game that was released on the 11th of August 2025. With how popular chess has become over the past few years, turning grandmasters into household names (without the use of certain devices in certain orifices), and the advent of Balatro changing how we view roguelikes, I just had to try it out. So, will a degree of randomness ruin a game that relies on perfect information, or does it make getting a checkmate even more satisfying?

Let’s talk about the presentation first. It uses a very clean, almost sterile aesthetic with cel-shaded outlines to help with visual clarity. It does remind me of LocalThunk’s efforts with its UI, but doesn’t have the same calming effect. Really, most of the craziness will come from the pieces and board itself. At least the music is pretty good at putting you in the thinking mood. If I were still a student, I’d probably study listening to the soundtrack.

Onto the gameplay, and you shouldn’t be surprised how simple it is to pick up and play. At its core, Passant is like any other chess game you’ve probably played, either in real life or on a screen. It has all the rules and techniques you may or may not know were possible in a typical match. What sets it apart, however, is how it changes its rules and throws as much insanity into it as possible, like including new pieces with strange abilities (for example, the Duck that can be anywhere on the board), badges that can change your board, and consumable coins that can get you out of a bad situation.

There are also multiple win conditions to end matches quickly aside from the standard checkmate, like taking all the non-King pieces and earning enough points in a few turns. You will have to keep this in mind as the AI is very defensive and knows when to strike, so you need to take whatever you can get.

There are four difficulties that you can choose from: Beginner, Normal, Challenging, and Grandmaster. The higher the difficulty, the fewer mistakes the AI makes, although it is noted that it will take longer to think about its next move. I am kind of a chess noob (I only really know how to move the pieces and what castling is), so I decided to review the game on Beginner, and even then, it is pretty tough. You’re either going to need some chess knowledge coming in, and if you don’t, you’d better learn fast.

It is structured quite similarly to Balatro. You have to beat two rounds before you can challenge the boss, who has a unique and troubling effect. If you made a mistake, you can undo your turn a few times per round, but after that, you’re on your own.

Between rounds, you’ll visit the shop to purchase whatever you need to beat the next match, with the money you earn determined by what chess setup you chose to face (either Standard or Challenging). You can decide to take a free pack and skip the round, but you won't get access to the shop, and you’ll earn no money. Beat all the bosses and you’ll walk away a winner, or you can press forward onto Endless Mode to see how far your board goes.

Despite all the effects and abilities that come into play, it’s still mostly a game of perfect information. Everything is rarely left to chance, and every possible move is clear to see. The only time luck is even a big factor is at the shop and what’s available to purchase.

Every round is essentially a chess puzzle you need to solve with the pieces you have. It’s going to make you rack your brain for the best possible move each turn and that can be satisfying in and of itself. I do find myself eventually turning my brain off with card-based roguelikes when I get a good enough build going, but that’s not possible here: you have to know the limits of your pieces and how to exploit them before your opponent gathers too much of an advantage.

If you’re itching for more Passant after beating all the starting sets, you can tackle special scenarios if you want to test yourself, dealing with unique situations and restrictions. If that's not enough, you can even create your own chessboard with access to every piece, badge, and coin you've unlocked and see what sort of insane chess scenario you can create.

I didn’t run into too many issues, other than dropping pieces by accident, putting them in places that ultimately spelled my doom. Also, and this is a nitpick, I wish there was a little more fanfare, if that's the right term? It just doesn’t have any little wonderful sound effects that make playing the game a therapeutic experience.

However, the biggest hurdle you have to overcome, if you aren’t too well-versed in chess, is… Well, you’re playing chess, and that’s a lot harder to grasp than something like blackjack or poker hands. I did say that you can easily pick it up and start playing, but ultimately, mastering it will take a lot longer. Considering we’ve pretty much nailed chess AI since 1996, it’s only thanks to deliberate blunders coded in and having a few unfair advantages that it's even possible to beat this game, and even then, it might not be enough.

I still enjoyed Passant despite my struggles with it. It’s a refreshing challenge for any fan of Balatro and can be just as addicting, but it can be rather daunting to get into. If you aren’t actively playing chess on a regular basis, you will struggle immensely. But for those who know what they’re doing and can take advantage of its mechanics, they find a nice, if slightly insane, shakeup to the chess formula.