Calm & satisfying
Chess 2
Chess 2 lets you launch chess pieces onto a board and watch them tumble into the scene. Set on an outdoor park table, this browser physics toy turns a neatly arranged chess set into an invitation to make a mess.
Chess 2’s outdoor board after pieces have been added to the scene.
- Cost
- Free browser toy
- Devices
- Computer and phone
- Controls
- Click or tap
- Chess knowledge
- Not required
What is Chess 2?
Chess 2 is an interactive 3D toy by Gavin Shapiro, part of Screen Toys. Instead of choosing legal moves, you launch extra pieces onto a chessboard and watch the physics play out. The board is a setting for throwing things, not a match you need to win.
How do you play Chess 2?
Tap or click the opening screen to begin. Once the pieces are set up, click or tap in the scene to launch more pieces. Try different points on the board and watch where they land.
There is no need to learn openings or remember how a knight moves. Reloading the page takes you back to the opening screen if you want to start fresh.
What we like about Chess 2
The convincing park table makes the nonsense work. Everything initially suggests a quiet game of chess, then a piece comes flying into it. The pleasure is in that collision between a familiar, orderly setting and what you are allowed to do.
We like it as a short physical toy rather than something to master. A few clicks are enough to understand the joke, and the tumbling pieces give you a reason to click again.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. You can start and interact with Chess 2 using touch on a phone. A larger screen gives the board and the falling pieces more room, but a keyboard is not needed.
Choose it for the playful physics, not for a traditional chess game. If you enjoyed the small, destructive interactions in Firewood or Road Trip, this comes from the same creator.
Site operated by Gavin Shapiro.
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