Checkmage! has been released for Linux on Steam.

The game is an adventure with chess-themed deckbuilding battles, set on a wizard island you explore while collecting and trading cards. It costs €20.49, with a launch discount of 15% off (€17.41) until November 8. A demo is also available on Steam.

An adventure game with chess-themed deckbuilding battles.

In this world, magic is kind of boring. And that’s okay. On wizard island, wizard students play games instead of studying. One of these games involve opening a small portal to the Chess Dimension, where Checkmage! is played.

Explore the island! Find secrets, trade cards, and get to know unique characters.

Featuring:

An ensemble cast of characters with unique personalities, strategies, and expressive dialogue. You can rematch them at later points in the game and see their strategies and loadouts improve.

100+ unique pieces, tiles, and spells to collect and experiment with. Mixing and matching different cards in your deck provides endlessly creative ways to play with surprisingly deep and emergent interactions.

6 detailed, hand-crafted locations to explore. Characters you’ll meet in one location show up in other places and change their dialog as you progress.

A black wind blows through your body… Enter a creepy dungeon for an optional gauntlet mode where you fight randomly generated opponents.

Source: Steam