Game Review: The Ouroboros King

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC

What happens when you mix chess and roguelike gameplay together? You get The Ouroboros King of course! Basically playing like chess on steroids, The Ouroboros King recently dropped onto consoles following an earlier PC release. It's currently available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, and we're going to be taking a look at the Switch version today. There's a lot to talk about in this one, so let's get right into it!

Even though The Ouroboros King is a chess game, it does actually have a story. Said plot centers on the titular king (At least I believe that's supposed to be him?) attempting to take back his throne from a Coven of evil magic users who've managed to corrupt members of the royal family. Each chapter of the journey sees you face off against a particular Big Bad of the Coven, with your showdown with them essentially being boss battles. Story or not, it acts as more of a distraction to the action that is going on. "Action" may be a bit too strong of a word for what's happening here, but I still think it fits. Giving a story to an expanded game of chess may seem like a rather odd move, but I appreciated the effort the developers put in. The inclusion of a story, however thin it may be, is especially important when you realize that The Ouroboros King sort of breaks away from key elements of the standard roguelike formula, namely in abandoning all unlockable upgrades and additions. Instead of more gameplay options being added as runs are completed, everything is open to players right from the start. There is still the RNG of the runs themselves, and you'll pretty much need some already existing chess skills if you want to succeed in the later chapters, but you really can't blame your failure on certain parts of the game being unavailable to you. While I do find this aspect of the game to be rather refreshing, let's see if that same positivity extends to gameplay.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to open up the gameplay discussion, as it really is just chess at its core. You have a certain number of pieces at your disposal, as does your opponent, and it's up to you to capture the opposing King before they capture yours. This is often easier said than done of course, but we'll get there in a bit. What's important to mention here is that not only do I have trouble explaining how to play the game, so does the game itself apparently. There is no tutorial to ease you into things, and you're just thrown into the game expected to learn as you go. I eventually did manage to figure things out after a series of embarrassing defeats, but I can definitely see where other players might simply give up in frustration. It's been a long while since I've played a game that felt as unfriendly to beginners as this one does, and things only get more complicated from there.

Obviously there are several things that keep The Ouroboros King from simply being chess, with the biggest of them being the pieces that are unique to this game. While you'll find all the standard chess pieces here, there are about 50 more thrown into the mix for good measure. Each piece has their own rules regarding movement and attacking, and some even upgrade to better forms. There are far too many pieces to try to discuss here, but many of them feel like "super" versions of standard chess pieces. I guess this makes sense as there are literally powered-up versions of bishops, knights, and pawns to choose from, but there are also pieces like vikings, crusaders, and princesses that also play similar to standard pieces. It's best to trial and error your way through figuring out which pieces work best for you, though I'm sure there are some that are far more powerful than others. I'd be lying if I said that I readily knew how each of the pieces play off the top of my head, but the game thankfully displays all relevant information on the right side of the screen, and even shows you the threat range of opponent's pieces when you select them. Besides new gameplay pieces, relics also change up the standard chess gameplay loop. These relics add permanent stat boosts or skills to the player, and you can either choose these from the start of a run, or find them via special spaces on the map. While I think I'm going to leave the intricacies of learning how to play chess for players to discover for themselves, there's still more to discuss when it comes to what makes up a standard run in The Ouroboros King.

Each run in The Ouroboros King places you on a randomly generated map that has several spaces that represent chess matches. Each match on the map gets progressively harder, with each space also offering up something special if you win said match. Spaces can be filled with shops, training grounds and more, with some spaces requiring extra planning to reach. Shops are rather self-explanatory and let you purchase single-use items, and the other spaces are used to recruit new pieces, or to power them up. There is an in-game money system that you can use in spaces like the Shop, but I rarely bothered with it. Each map culminates in a final space that features the earlier mentioned boss battles, with the bosses themselves being unique pieces with very powerful abilities and skills. Oh, and in case you're wondering, opponents have all the same materials at their disposal that you do, special pieces and relics included.

A run ends if your king is captured, and a run is successful if you clear all the chapters of the game. Completing a run can take about an hour, so there isn't a big time investment involved, though it can be rather crushing to have a run end abruptly after a single defeat. You can actually rewind moves in-game a limited number of times, and even reload a failed run right before you lost, but in my experience games at that point are most likely too far gone to save. Though this might not sound like there's a lot to do gameplay-wise, I think it's best to look at this as a really advanced board game rather than a proper roguelike. With that idea in mind, I think there's quite a bit of content here for the kind of game you get.

One of my biggest issues with The Ouroboros King has to be its presentation, as it just seems all over the place. I'm not sure if this game originally started as a mobile game, but it doesn't seem at all optimized for consoles. Controls are confusing, text appears in the strangest of places, and there are some option menus that I swear I only see randomly when the game decides it'll let me change what relics I start with. There also isn't a lot to talk about when it comes to visuals or sound. Seeing as this is a digital board game, I feel weird saying that I found both of those areas to be lacking, but I really did. Making a game visually appealing, or simply adding in a lively soundtrack, would've done wonders for the game. As things are, it definitely feels like things are either unfinished, or very low budget. Also, there seem to be times when the game just randomly freezes for no reason. I'm not sure if this is just a Switch thing, but it happened a lot. Thankfully the game recovers just fine, though it's jarring when it happens nonetheless.

Presentation aside, I think another big factor regarding one's enjoyment of The Ouroboros King would have to be their skill in chess itself. I'll admit that I'm not exactly the most well-versed chess player, and I've played maybe a dozen games in my entire life. I did find the game's premise interesting, even if the game seemed to want to kill that interest at every turn. The Ouroboros King does nothing to ease new players in, and you're thrown to the wolves at the highest AI setting imaginable. I lowered the AI a bit after I suffered defeat after defeat early on, and I eventually settled into a gameplay loop I enjoyed. I ended up having a lot of fun here, but I can easily see how others might find the game anything but that.

Even though I think The Ouroboros King is a rather great game, I'm not sure I can give it the widest of recommendations. At $9.99, it feels just a bit too high for a casual purchase, especially considering that it feels a lot like an un-optimized port of a mobile game. Add in the fact that the gameplay is literally a niche within a niche, and you have a game that's going to struggle to find an audience. That said, if you're a fan of chess, board games in general, or are looking for a unique roguelike, then this is the game for you. Everyone else might be better off with something a bit more basic though. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go look up chess strategies online as I really need to up my game.

Check Out The Ouroboros King on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/the-ouroboros-king-switch/

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Story: B
Gameplay: B+
Graphics: B-
Music/Sound: C
Value: B-

Overall: B-

Pros:
+ A unique mix of chess and the roguelike genre.
+ Everything is unlocked from the start, allowing players to see everything the game has to offer right away.
+ Offers up a great challenge for all the expert chess players out there.
+ The dozens of pieces, relics, items, and RNG make for a game that's easy to pick up and play in short bursts.
+ Oh, and there's a decent story wrapped around everything too.

Cons:
- Has no tutorial whatsoever, and basically throws new players into the deep end.
- The game can be quite difficult at times, with prior skill at chess practically being a requirement for success.
- Leaves a lot to be desired presentation-wise. The gameplay area feels far too busy, and there is practically no sound to speak of.
- Doesn't feel like a beginner-friendly title at all.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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