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Eternal Kings is a two-player game that combines the classic strategy of chess with the diverse combos of a card game! You control your experience: first by constructing your own unique deck of cards, then by using their diverse abilities to destroy your opponent on the field of battle!
If you are already familiar with chess, you will recognize many of the mechanics in Eternal Kings, but you will find the experience to be totally new and exciting! The abilities of the playing pieces, the special ability cards, and even the whim of chance will make every encounter on the board a tense and exciting turning point.
Each player builds an "army" of 8 pawns, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops, a queen and a king, and places those cards (creatures) on the board. When building your army, you can choose from over 48 unique types of creatures. Each type of creature has a unique move set and abilities that they can perform.
You will also construct an Ability Deck before playing. These "ability cards" are drawn during the game that allow creatures to perform additional actions. There are over 40 unique ability cards to choose from. Ability cards are held in a player's "hand" until used.
Players take turns moving and developing one or more of their creatures in attempt to eliminate their opponent's king.
Eternal Kings Preview with the Game Boy Geek
- Chess-like precision with layered deck-building
- Four distinct realms create varied playstyles
- Hidden ability cards add strategic depth and bluffing
- Potential for powerful combos and multi-opponent takedowns
- Complexity may be intimidating for new players
- Prototype/preview nature means components and balance are not final
- Requires understanding multiple mechanics simultaneously
- Discipline-driven combat on a chessboard with card-driven abilities
- A tactical chess-inspired duel with four realms and discipline-based decks
- Competitive tactical skirmishes with hidden information and deck-building
- Chess
- Magic: The Gathering
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card lifecycle management — Ability cards are drawn, spent, flipped to activate, then discarded; some effects refresh by turning cards back.
- Chess-like board layout and piece movement — Pawns, rooks, bishops, knights, kings, and a queen are represented by creature cards; movement follows chess rules with added deck interactions.
- Combat resolution via attack/defense values — Engagement uses attack versus defense, with modifiers and possible red/blue effects.
- Combat: Damage Based — Engagement uses attack versus defense, with modifiers and possible red/blue effects.
- Deck-based ability system — Each player uses a separate ability deck; ability cards cost discipline to activate and are discarded after use.
- Discipline resource system — Each creature card has a discipline value; spending discipline activates abilities and triggers effects.
- Hidden information and surprises — Ability cards are often facedown until activated, adding uncertainty to opponent decisions.
- Hidden Movement — Some abilities let pieces move through or shadow past allied pieces to attack.
- Resource Management — Each creature card has a discipline value; spending discipline activates abilities and triggers effects.
- Shadow/through movement — Some abilities let pieces move through or shadow past allied pieces to attack.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is for two players
- it's a chess type game with a lot of different things built into it
- the queen has four so they've spent this and what they actually can do is put this down facedown
- you could target an adjacent enemies creature and that person would discard a card
- you can combo together different moves to take out more than one opponent in one turn