Master of Chess story

title

It all started in the summer of 2022. Things were getting back to normal as the pandemic was dying down. I was becoming disillusioned with my job as a software developer. There must be something out there for me that feels right, right? I’ve dabbled in gamedev for about 10 years at this point but I never truly committed. It’s hard to make a game. Making a good one? Almost impossible.

But an idea came: how about I combine one of my favourite games - Football Manager, with one of my favourite sports - Chess. In theory, I’d just transfer mechanics from FM to the domain of chess and it would work. In practice, it wasn’t going to work in a million years.

First prototype

In my 10 previous years of making games I only scratched the surface of what that craft is so I made no plans - I took the task head-on and started developing. Ignorance is bliss, as they say. It was truly a blessing that I didn’t know how much work was involved, because if I knew I’d never attempt to make this game in my spare time, around a 9-5 job.

If we simplify how we look at games, you need at least three hats as a solo developer to pull off a game:

  1. Your game designer hat.
  2. Your programmer hat.
  3. Your artist hat.

Luckily, I realized I was only somewhat good at wearing the second, programmer hat. I figured I could get by as a game designer by simply ‘stealing’ mechanics from Football Manager. I thought an artist wasn’t particularly necessary for this kind of managerial game: it’s all UI after all - another misconception!

After tinkering for a couple of months I had something working.

old-prototype

…but everything you see here is baloney. Besides the two AIs playing against each other, there’s nothing else really working here. It was just a UI sketch I threw together - and not a good one at that.

At this point, my game development cycle was running purely on fuel of wishful thinking. Somehow the AIs would magically play interesting and appropriate level chess that I’d be able to influence with some sliders (aggressive, cautious, passive, fast…). It was a pipe dream.

What’s painfully obvious now was a mystery then: there was no way I could ever control the AIs like that. Even if I could, that’s one boring, weak, and unimaginative gameplay loop. So I tinkered with it, trying out different ideas for months with no breakthrough. It was so bad I couldn’t even show it to anyone yet.

Lost in the woods of creating a coherent gaming experience, I made my first good choice: to read Designing Games book by Tynan Sylvester (the creator of Rimworld).

book

This was a game-changer. Not only did I begin to understand how to make games, I’ve developed a greater appreciation for game design in general. It’s an incredible craft. It requires study, practice and patience - like any other art form.

Around the beginning of 2023, I had a major breakthrough in Master of Chess. I pivoted the game from a passive, manager-like experience to a hands-on simulation game, where you play with help of AI. I remember the happiness I felt while I was explaining to my wife the gist of it. It was a simple, almost obvious solution to my game design issues.

There’s a negative review I really like that points out the dissonance in how the game functions. It’s a simulation game that started as a manager game and I haven’t made a clean cut to separate the two. In general, that’s a bad thing and I wish I knew how to eradicate it, but it adds some quirky quality to the game. So it’s not all bad.

At this moment, I realized I had something real on my hands. A few months later, I had the first version ready for testing, and I put in the hours to create a video trailer.

One post on Reddit and I was blown away. I wasn’t crazy. There was something here and it was real.

reddit 327k views! 4.6k upvotes! Almost 300 comments!

The discord grew from a dozen of people to a couple of hundreds in a matter of days. There was so much good energy to feed off. I started a daily log practice. Some days I’d put in an hour or two, on weekdays as many as I could. Every day I’d make a small message about it.

It was about discipline but also about sustaining the community’s energy.

daily_log

Around this time, my wife joined in to help with the UI.

Remember how I said there are about three hats you need to wear to make a game? First I failed at wearing the game designer’s hat - the game had no meat to it. Then I failed at wearing the programmer’s hat, trying to implement an AI system that was beyond me. Finally, my artist’s hat didn’t fit me either - the game looked disjointed and inconsistent, but it showed promise!

My wife pointed out the inconsistencies, kept me more disciplined across screens, and provided much needed sketches to guide my redesign. My buddy Lorenzo chipped in with custom avatars for the game. It was all taking shape.

sketch

The community was booming. We organized a tournament on Lichess, squashed numerous bugs, and had volunteers offering to translate the game… it was awesome. I rode that wave of energy and released Master of Chess in June 2024 as an Early Access game.

This created another boost. Not only were people enjoying my work and trying to help me out, but they were actually paying to play it.

Early Access was pivotal in shaping and improving the game. There was more negative comments as well - which the game needed. I was aware of most of the issues people pointed out but the comments showed me what to prioritize and why. To a player these issues seem obvious but when you’re working on a game for a long time, it’s easy to stop seeing the forest for the trees.

In August 2024 I had even bigger news - my son was born.

This put in a dent in my work schedule but I used every spare minute to keep developing.

daddy-time

Reviews were coming in less often, and the huge wave of enthusiasm was slowly fading. Still I continued working as much as I could between my 9-5 job, my baby boy and everything else life demanded.

I built a habit - work, work, work. And I’m not complaining - I loved it. The deeper I dug the more issues I found in my game design, but my understanding of how games are made blossomed. I grew as a programmer too and overhauled the AI system numerous times. I still get complaints that it’s both too easy and too hard - it’s a difficult problem to solve!

I rolled out new features, redesigned some systems (opening repertoire I’m looking at you!), fixed dozens of bugs and went through 9 minor versions and countless patches. I was growing and the game was growing.

It became easier with my newly arrived helper :) new-worker

Final stats

What’s new in 1.x.x release?

THANKS

A huge thank you to my wife. She not only helped shape the look of the game, but also enabled me in many ways to work on it in my free time.

Without Lorenzo the game would be stuck with inconsistent, ugly avatars - and it would be far worse overall. I can’t thank him enough for being the earliest playtester and a great friend.

Thanks to the people who helped hype up the game and especially those who moderated the community on Discord and offered tips and answers: Miobius, Mendax and many others.

Thanks to everyone active in the Steam Discussions, and especially Chess_Forever whose energy and enthusiasm for Master of Chess gave me a huge boost.

Lastly, I want to thank my dad. He taught me how to play chess and my biggest chess goal was to beat him. I dedicate Master of Chess to him.

What’s next?

I’ll continue to monitor the community and address any critical issues. I will, of course, stay active on Discord and in Steam discussions.

There are a couple of features I’d still love to see in the game, so I might dive back in MoC sea in some months. I also have some DLC ideas - like Friends&Enemies, Variations (960, Blitz), and Teams - so we’ll see if community interest and my availability will align to make those happen. For now, I’m happy to have built a foundation for years of chess enjoyment. This game means a lot to me and I’m so happy that many of you feel the same connection to it.

I’m excited to keep growing as a developer, and any future projects will benefit from this chess world we’ve built together. Master of Chess will always hold a special place as my first real game.

Thank you for reading and being part of the Master of Chess journey.

Much love,

Miloš aka BRANE