''Pure Chess'' is a

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

by British developer VooFoo Studios.

Release

Pure Chess was released for the

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international terri ...

and the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

. The PS3 version of the game is only available through digital download via the

PlayStation Store The PlayStation Store (PS Store) is a digital media store available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The store offers a range of downloadable conte ...

. The PS3 version of ''Pure Chess'' was released on April 11, 2012, in Europe and on May 29, 2012, in North America. A

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

version was later released on April 15, 2014 in North America and April 16, 2014 in Europe. A physical edition of this version was also published as a budget title by System 3 under their Play It label. ''Pure Chess'' was announced for

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. Th ...

during an August 2013

Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentation or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began ...

for the PAL region. The game's publisher

Ripstone ''Knytt Underground'' is a 2D adventure game in the exploration subgenre similar to Metroidvania games, with elements of arcade platformers, combining the mechanics of the developer's previous games, ''Knytt'' and ''Within a Deep Forest.'' It ...

later confirmed the game for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generati ...

as well. In addition, it was also confirmed that cross-platform play will be supported between both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions, as well as with players playing the mobile versions of the game, and possibly even Sony's PlayStation consoles. On September 9, 2016, ''Pure Chess: Grandmaster Edition'' was made available for the

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

and PC using

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

Reception

Commercial

''Pure Chess'' was the 11th best-selling

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smar ...

game and the 4th best-selling PS Vita game in June 2012.

Critical

The single-player mode of ''Pure Chess'' was praised by

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...

. However, reviewers found the online multi-player mode disappointing.

References

{{reflist 2012 video games Android (operating system) games Chess software IOS games Nintendo 3DS eShop games Nintendo Network games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Vita games PlayStation Network games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games with cross-platform play Wii U eShop games