Chess gets turned into a high-action shooter

For intellectuals and strategists alike, chess is the preferred game. Now that’s all changed thanks to the clever work of one developer. Benjamin Soule has made a chess game with a violent twist — chess pieces can shoot each other, turning the game into pure, chaotic fun.

In our arsenal, we have violent chess as well as more. Cool WIP, Polygon’s weekly roundup of eye-catching clips and screenshots of works in progress. The Polygon team searches the web for interesting new games every week to bring you an overview of some of the coolest projects.

We have this week a cat who wants to buy you a home in the mid-century, a fake gacha, some slime and some scary scenery.

Violence and blood are common in Chess

Benjamin Soule from Punkcake Délicieux posted a clip of a “rogue-chess” for the Ludum Dare 50, a game jam where developers make a game from start to finish in a weekend. This jam’s theme was “Delay the inevitable” and Soule made a violent twist on chess. This is A clip of the gameThis image depicts a king piece using a gun to spray the opposite side with bullets. It is true that chess pieces are susceptible to bleeding. You can play the game for free now and check out more work like this on Punkcake Délicieux’s website and itch.io page.

This pet friend is just trying to get you a lovely mid-century home.

Coopertom is a Youtuber and streamer who created a neighborhood inspired 1970s architecture for VRChat. In a clipOur furry friend and tour guide takes us through the homes pretending to be an agent. “This house comes with wall-to-wall orange shag carpeting,” Coopertom says in a tour. “It might look nice right now but trust me, this is going to get super disgusting really really fast.” It’s a goofy bit and you can check out more of Coopertom’s work on their Twitter account.

This gacha game isn’t real, but the developer’s work is cool as hell

Developer Dmaw tweeted an April Fool’s Day joke that they were working on an “NFT gacha game” and shared a clip of a 3D character panel. Although it was only a joke tweet, the character display that they created received a lot attention. You can view the character at different angles by tilting the screen. Dmaw is a bright, animated game developer. See more of their work. on their Twitter accountAt the developer Big Brane Studios.

Smooth clay slime

We’re off of frogs now. Slime is now the hottest thing. Here, developer Rafael Martín teases their imaginingA slime grunt is a working-in-progress. They fit in perfectly with the miniaturized environment. Overall, it looks like it could be a stunning game, and it’s reminiscent of titles like the 2019 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s AwakeningOr even more recent Tunic. If you’re interested, you can check out more of Martín’s work on Twitter.

This is one of the most interesting developers around

Every time a Spencer Yan video appears on my feed, I’m able to identify it instantly. If you’re not familiar, Yan makes some of the most evocative and visually distinct games out there by using a dual-toned, highly detailed, pixelated style. The style lends their work a trance-like quality that feels like a dream you can’t quite fully remember. As the sun sinks, distant hills recede into the distance, this clip captures the beautiful scene. Yan updates his blog regularly so make sure you check back often. their work on Twitter.