10 Games Like Chess — Strategy Board Games for Every Skill Level

Games like Chess: If you enjoy Chess, here are similar games that offer the same appeal with their own unique twists.

What Makes a Game “Like Chess”?

Chess players love these qualities:

• No luck — winning depends entirely on skill
• Perfect information — both players see the full board
• Deep strategy — simple rules create complex decisions
• 1v1 competition — you versus one opponent

Every game below shares at least three of these traits.

1. Go

The ancient game of territory

Go is arguably the deepest strategy game ever created. Players alternate placing black and white stones on a grid, competing to surround the most territory. Stones can be captured by completely surrounding them.

How it compares to chess: Go has simpler rules (you can learn in 5 minutes) but staggering depth. There’s no piece hierarchy — every stone is equal. Where chess rewards tactical calculation, Go rewards pattern recognition, influence, and long-term planning.

Play free: OGS (online-go.com) or KGS Go Server

2. Checkers (Draughts)

The classic stepping stone to chess

Move your 12 pieces diagonally forward. Jump over opponents to capture them. Reach the back row to become a King (moves in all diagonal directions). Capture all enemy pieces or block them completely.

How it compares to chess: Same board, simpler pieces, fewer options per turn — but endgame positions can be surprisingly deep. Checkers has been “solved” by computers (perfect play results in a draw), whereas chess remains unsolved.

Play free on Rare Pike: rarepike.com/checkers

3. Reversi (Othello)

Control the board through flanking

Place discs to sandwich your opponent’s discs between yours — flipped discs become your color. The player with the most discs when the board is full wins.

How it compares to chess: Reversi shares chess’s emphasis on board control and thinking ahead. The twist: the entire board can flip dramatically in a few moves. Corner control in Reversi is like controlling the center in chess — it’s the key to winning.

Play free on Rare Pike: rarepike.com/reversi

4. Shogi (Japanese Chess)

Chess with captured pieces that come back

Shogi features piece types similar to chess (King, Rook, Bishop, Gold/Silver Generals, Knights, Lances, Pawns). Most pieces can promote when reaching the far side. The defining feature: captured pieces join your army and can be “dropped” back onto the board on your turn.

How it compares to chess: Shogi games rarely end in draws because of the drop mechanic. Material advantage is less dominant — your captured pieces benefit the opponent. This creates more aggressive, dynamic play than chess.

Play free: Lishogi.org (free, open-source) or 81Dojo

5. Backgammon

Strategy meets calculated risk

Race your 15 pieces around the board and bear them off before your opponent. Dice determine movement, but strategic decisions — blocking, hitting, building primes — determine who wins.

How it compares to chess: Backgammon adds dice, introducing probability management. Great chess players often excel at backgammon because it rewards positional thinking and forward planning. The doubling cube adds a poker-like psychological element.

Play free on Rare Pike: rarepike.com/backgammon

6. Connect Four

Vertical strategy in a simple package

Drop colored discs into a vertical grid. First to connect four in a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) wins.

How it compares to chess: Like chess, Connect Four rewards thinking multiple moves ahead and setting up dual threats. It’s a solved game (first player wins with perfect play), but at casual levels it’s full of traps and tactical patterns.

Play free on Rare Pike: rarepike.com/four

7. Gomoku (Five in a Row)

The minimalist strategy game

Players alternate placing stones on a grid. First to get exactly five in a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) wins.

How it compares to chess: Gomoku is pure pattern recognition and threat management. Like chess, you need to create multiple simultaneous threats (forks) to win. Simpler rules, but competitive play requires deep reading of the board.

Play free on Rare Pike: rarepike.com/five

8. Xiangqi (Chinese Chess)

Chess’s oldest relative

Xiangqi features Generals (Kings), Advisors, Elephants, Chariots (Rooks), Horses (Knights), Cannons, and Soldiers (Pawns). A river divides the board, affecting piece movement. Generals must stay within a 3×3 palace.

How it compares to chess: Games tend to be faster and more tactical. The Cannon (which jumps over a piece to capture) has no chess equivalent and creates unique attacking patterns. The confined Generals make checkmating more direct.

Play free: PlayOK.com or Xiangqi.com

9. Mancala

Ancient counting and capture

Pick up all stones from one pit on your side and distribute them counter-clockwise, one per pit. The strategy lies in which pit to choose — landing in your store earns an extra turn, and landing in an empty pit on your side captures the opponent’s stones across from it.

How it compares to chess: Mancala shares chess’s perfect-information, no-luck framework, but the feel is completely different. It rewards counting and planning sequences of moves. Each turn’s consequences ripple across the entire board.

Play free: Mancala.club or various mobile apps

10. Bridge (Card Game)

The chess of card games

Bridge is a partnership trick-taking card game with an auction phase and a play phase. The declarer plays both their own hand and their partner’s exposed hand (dummy), planning 13 tricks of play in advance.

How it compares to chess: Bridge is commonly called “the chess of card games” because of its immense strategic depth, partnership dynamics, and tournament culture. The declarer phase — planning trick sequences across two hands — mirrors chess-style calculation. Top chess players (including several World Champions) have been avid Bridge players.

Play free on Rare Pike: rarepike.com/bridge

Comparison Chart

Which Game Should You Try First?

• If you love deep strategy: Go or Shogi
• If you want something faster: Connect Four or Gomoku
• If you enjoy positional play: Reversi or Checkers
• If you want to add a luck element: Backgammon or Bridge
• If you’re new to strategy games: Checkers → Connect Four → Reversi → Chess