Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
Game
Game2022
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate
Developer PUNKCAKE Delicieux
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate (also referred to as simply Shotgun King) is a 2022 roguelike turn-based tactics video game developed by French studio Punkcake Délicieux and published by Headbang Club for Microsoft Windows. The game puts the player in the role of a tyrant black king chess piece whose workers have left him for the popular, nicer white king piece. To reclaim their pieces, the king piece carries and… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
297 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
84
LovedLoved
185 positive · 35 negative
95% range 79–88%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 185 | 35 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 26 | 3 | 42 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
4,318 of 4,682 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
84% recommend · 179 yes, 33 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 212 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (6,800 of 7,473 positive).
Players praise the game's clever twist on chess with a shotgun and roguelike elements. [1][2][3] Some reviewers criticize heavy RNG and difficulty spikes at higher ranks. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
its core gimmick is entertaining and works fine for rank 1, maybe reasonable up rank 5 or so. otherwise, the rank system does not work with the core of the game with how rigid and random the way you receive cards is, to the point where rank 10+, especially at or above rank 15 you will receive poor cards that either bloat the health of the pieces too far for you to be able to fight back enough (stuff like theocracy …
- [1]
Really good game, you'd think that this would be way easier than regular chess when you have a shotgun but if you keep advancing through the throne mode ranks then you're gonna see how this is harder and you have to actually try to outsmart a smart chess bot who has every piece while you only have a king with a shotgun People say that the gameplay loop is repetitive and while that's true it's at least way more fun …
- [7]
The design of the game is honestly genius, you wouldn't expect it from a game named like this, but the white and black card system is SO well made. The amount of builds both sides of the board have is astonishing and managing the cards in such a way to not screw yourself up while also making yourself stronger is so satysfying. The interactions cards have with each other is really well thought out and the way it …
- [15]
I think the shotgun weapon unlocks are nearly impossible to unlock, so progression in this game is very out of whack. But the game is great! Just wish that unlocks and progression worked. I feel like it doesn't work very well. The balancing is sorta odd. I am sorta unhappy with the progression in this game. Extremely difficult to unlock other shotguns. I have never been able to unlock any of them, nor have I been …
- [4]
Deceptively a lot of fun despite its silly premise. The upgrade system a pretty compelling way of elevating difficulty as you go through a run, and the upgrades themselves are well-varied and interesting. Apart from beating the game to rise in difficulty ranks, most of the game is just achievement hunting, which is mostly just rolling the dice on RNG to give specific combination of upgrades. If you're averse to …
Summarised from 34 of the 280 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
84% of the 212 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate. The complaint that keeps coming up: too much RNG, especially at higher difficulties. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
60 of 297 · most liked firstIt pains me to give this a negative review. As many rougelikes do they continued to add items that bloat the pool. Now it's incredibly rare to get the cards you want and synergies are near impossible. Some cards aren't even able to appear until you have prerequisite cards, but good luck getting two prerequisite cards in a single run AND for the advanced card to appear. There is a starting gun that gives you one re-roll once per choice. But that's a band-aid fix and is a bad addition since it…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's true, I am behind PUNKCAKE Délicieux. The custom engine we use? That's me stalling game releases. The problematic writing in Shotgun King? That's me looking for problems. All those trailers? That's me learning video editing with some obscure software I got from Humble Bundle 10 years ago 😎
positive · AI labelView post →Finished my game for #ldjam! I started with the idea of a turn-based shooter inspired by Doom RPG, but level design pushed it toward puzzles, with a Shotgun King flair #gamedev #indiedev
neutral · AI labelView post →Really good game, you'd think that this would be way easier than regular chess when you have a shotgun but if you keep advancing through the throne mode ranks then you're gonna see how this is harder and you have to actually try to outsmart a smart chess bot who has every piece while you only have a king with a shotgun People say that the gameplay loop is repetitive and while that's true it's at least way more fun than regular chess because every run is different with the cards you pick, and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My main complaint is now that they removed accessibility features in the latest update for the sake of making it harder. You used to be able to press middle mouse to highlight dangerous tiles, which allowed you to play the game with a certain level of speed. Without this, certain speedrun achievements are outright impossible, and general gameplay is now slowed down to a boring slog. This compounds with my other issues with the game, which mostly has to do with artificial difficulty. The game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My boi taking down an entire kingdom of evil with a shotgun. Are they evil? Eh thats for the historians to decide, and history is written by the victors.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I suck at normal chess, so this game is a great escape from that fact. Don't get me wrong, I suck at this too but a bit less
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shotgun King is nominated for Premium Game Of The Year by GamingonPhone! ♟️👑💥 You can help us win the award by taking 2 seconds to vote for it: just click Shotgun King and then "Submit", email isn't needed! gamingonphone.com/awards/gpa-2026/premium-mobile-game-of-the-year Thank you! 💖
neutral · AI labelView post →its core gimmick is entertaining and works fine for rank 1, maybe reasonable up rank 5 or so. otherwise, the rank system does not work with the core of the game with how rigid and random the way you receive cards is, to the point where rank 10+, especially at or above rank 15 you will receive poor cards that either bloat the health of the pieces too far for you to be able to fight back enough (stuff like theocracy early on), get some black card that's too niche early on to benefit you before…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No mid run saving in a roguelike is such a weird choice and makes even launching the game unfun.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Epic] *The Ouroboros King*, chess roguelike (for mobile). > The Ouroboros King combines the strategic depth of chess with the build variety and replayability of roguelikes. Assemble a formidable army, discover powerful relics, and buy surprising gadgets to defeat the Coven. > > Build the Ultimate Army: Combine classic and new fairy chess pieces, relics that give them bonuses, and consumable items that grant you temporary advantages to create a formidable army. > > Perfect Your Strategy: You…
neutral · AI labelView post →A really fun and enjoyable roguelike game until you want to 100%. A huge chunk of the achievements are pure luck-based, like the builder achievement, which requires three white cards. To make the matter worse, two of them are locked behind another white card, which result in a total of FIVE white cards. To make the matter even worse, this combo is hard, 1. every white piece has additional 1hp 2. rook has another 4hp 3. everything next to rook can only take 2 damages. Even on ranking 1 it is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Such a great premise, spoiled by RNG and the unfairness of discovered checks being an instant game over.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →really enjoyable game, one of the few games i replay every now and then and still have a solid opinion about it (even through the losses i make, and the games i couldn't win, i enjoyed the good side of it) though i will say my arrogance is the killer of my runs because i barely think twice before i move, mostly due to me not being an experienced chess person. that aside, i loved this game, i hope more content is dropped
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The design of the game is honestly genius, you wouldn't expect it from a game named like this, but the white and black card system is SO well made. The amount of builds both sides of the board have is astonishing and managing the cards in such a way to not screw yourself up while also making yourself stronger is so satysfying. The interactions cards have with each other is really well thought out and the way it keeps it's chess theme is really cool. The devs came up with so many cool ideas to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I dont even know what to say, its peak, chess with shotgun i guess
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So, I've been playing Shotgun King. Awesome game, but I keep wondering: Why does the Black King go first? I can accept that he has a shotgun. But rules are rules, man!
positive · AI labelView post →Main cons: 1) Anti-player rng 2) Weird balance for power-ups (cards) and some units (mr 50% evade). Core of the game is decent but the game becomes frustrating and unfun to play on stage 7 and further.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →56. Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate (2022, PC). You know, I've always said chess would be more fun if the pieces were armed to the teeth. Evidently, Benjamin Soulé and Rémy Devaux had the same idea, and I have to give kudos to kindred spirits.
positive · AI labelView post →awsome game. a really fun spin on chess that maintains the strategy and planning aspect of the original game. incredibly replayable. so many different things to do every time. Buy this now.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Multicore series 4 - Shotgun King really good roguelite puzzle game, im stuck at the last difficulty tho. maybe the new cards and shotguns they added recently might help me beat it #art #shotgunking #multicore
positive · AI labelView post →April's PIZZA PRANKS Video Game Tape Club release is out! This month's release is Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate by PUNKCAKE Délicieux! Get the hit turn-based strategy chess roguelite on game tape (usb + cassette case) today! pizzapranks.com/tapeclub
neutral · AI labelView post →'Shotgun King: The Last Checkmate' Version 1.5 is now available on Steam. "Base game" also available on Xbox, PlayStation and Switch. store.steampowered.com/app/1972440/... youtu.be/Kpnp4YPHYI0?...
neutral · AI labelView post →As someone who has 100%ed this hellscape, I cannot recommend it to anyone in good faith, the achievements are hell, a basic feature was removed and replaced with a cheat code, later on in the game it relies entirely on lady luck deciding not to ♥♥♥♥ you which also applies to the achievements, I don't think there's even one skill-based achievement from this entire game. Card-specific luck involves having your 10 cards not getting bloated by the cards you don't want for the achievements you're…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think the shotgun weapon unlocks are nearly impossible to unlock, so progression in this game is very out of whack. But the game is great! Just wish that unlocks and progression worked. I feel like it doesn't work very well. The balancing is sorta odd. I am sorta unhappy with the progression in this game. Extremely difficult to unlock other shotguns. I have never been able to unlock any of them, nor have I been able to progress passed level 9.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really love the base concept here and followed it for a couple of years before getting it and playing it. While it's definitely unique among roguelikes and appreciably so, I think after hitting a hard wall a few hours in, I think there's a sort of critical disconnect that makes it more frustrating than fun. On paper there's a good overlap here: Chess by itself is very methodical and strategic, contingent on gaming the predictability of your opponent's moves; most roguelikes rest on a balance…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So I refunded the Steam version of this game after learning it was available on mobile, and I probably have a couple dozen hours on this now overall at the time of this review. Each round you get a buff for your king, paired with a buff for the opponent's pieces, stacking between rounds, making your king super strong while also building the opposing army. Runs are pretty quick, and each loss feels fair, while wins feel skillful. Sometimes it boils down to luck (buffs appearing between…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I now remember why I delete this game. Fun but mostly depends on luck since you are often getting a black card with debuff, and a white card that strengthen the enemy a little bit overwhelming than you can against.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't really love giving this game a negative review as the premise is so patently absurd and fun, and the price tag is so low, that the game really shouldn't need to do a lot of work to validate itself and its value. And it isn't like Shotgun King is bad, or shoddy. I found it to be competent, didn't run into any bugs, and it delivered on the premise. But the actual experience of playing the game was boring. This game has over 100 achievements, but after I finished a single run, I already…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was good until they removed the simple feature of showing spots that would kill you via clicking MOUSE3 for literally no reason. This does not make the game more difficult or challenging then it already is, it just gives me a headache pacing my eyes back and forth on what is supposed to be a more casual and fun version of chess. Buy on sale or get the (hopefully) outdated console version for a better experience.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →did you know that people love to STEAL the amazing idea of chess with a shotgun? shown below is a blatant ripoff of the @punkcake.club game Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate could we spread the message that this is a stolen game across the web? this is quite literally stealing from PEAK game dev
positive · AI labelView post →worst rougelike ive ever played. (rng hell)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was fun. Really fun. But then a feature that showed where enemies could attack was locked behind cheat codes and I can no longer recommend, or play, the game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wish i could use an actual shotgun in actual chess tournaments
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Chess has been drastically improved with the addition of a shotgun and roguelike elements. This game has a charming sense of humor and will have you itching to push a little further. Different game modes and new content has been added over time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game adds blunder shields (but only for blunders that don't involve the shotgun) so you're trained that you can ♥♥♥♥ up sometimes but then othertimes you'll just instantly lose a run because you fired and it opened a line for you to die. The upgrades that you get frankly are bad 90% of the time, and every single upgrade is meaningful for the enemy, feel like no matter what happens the enemy army scales faster than yours, just not fun to play a roguelike where you watch the enemy outpace you.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So this game has a really odd issue, when you are at the point your character cannot do anything with out dying instead of saying you lost it forces you to move which infuriates me because it is like attempting to say there is a move available when there isnt one or that I could attack and move when it says no.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this sucks. feels like it started with he name and bolted mechanics on but it feels very awkward. also grenades do not work correctly with controller inputs and are unusable on steamdeck.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Deceptively a lot of fun despite its silly premise. The upgrade system a pretty compelling way of elevating difficulty as you go through a run, and the upgrades themselves are well-varied and interesting. Apart from beating the game to rise in difficulty ranks, most of the game is just achievement hunting, which is mostly just rolling the dice on RNG to give specific combination of upgrades. If you're averse to getting screwed by RNG, this game is probably not for you, RNG plays a significant…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Chess.... with guns (honestly more guns than chess). It's fun, replayable, and has quite good and thematic graphics. Worth a shot (or two), for sure.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game with many upgrade choices, but I can't count how many times my shields just... don't work. It doesn't warn me about discovered attacks when killing pieces.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Went for the social distancing achievement & got the black plague card on my last draw, 10/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is rather good, although you have to figure out rules as you go, since things may interact in ways you don't expect. For example of mechanics: Picking a buff that poisons queen(s) gets countered by Bishops that can heal, but this is not mentioned anywhere and you'll have to find out for yourself. Game has a lot of RNG and as mentioned by others, starts to show in higher tiers of difficulty. By that point you'll have gotten a decent number of hours from it for the price, however. Demo…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →#JustBeatIt Check and Slash. A chess inspired hack and slash game with some rougelike elements. It took the idea of getting perks, which always come with a perk for the enemies, from the superior game "Shotgun King". Platinum after an hour. Rather lame. C tier for me. @polykillpodcast.bsky.social
negative · AI labelView post →Great game, but the Folly Sheild ignores discovered checks and counts shooting the white king when you are next to them and they will die as dangerous.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →u always get garbage cards and die and then u press Alt+F4 because there are better games to waste time on
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Decent fun for a little while but nothing I could sink many hours in. Maybe like a 5/10.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely horrible amount of RNG being on your side required to win, like to a comical level
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The computer is playing chess but you're not. What I mean becomes fairly obvious at the higher difficulty when you have to actually look at the board and see how the computer is going to try to trap you or how it's positioning a bishop or a queen behind a pawn. You're not playing chess; however, you are playing a turn based shooter. You are desperately trying to keep your damage and ammo replenishment up so you don't find yourself helplessly trapped in a game of chess you can't win. The game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →wow this game is sick. design, mechanics, sound all great. i almost totally forgot about this game after playing a few hours after getting it years ago. and then years later dev drops a badass update out of nowhere. yes!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →THURSDAY STREAM! - Warming up with some Shotgun King! - Let's finish this fydoTile from last time! - Let's further finish up The Big Comm! - Game Dev if I've still got my wits about me. <w<; Come hang out! Pals, maybe?? <3 www.twitch.tv/electric_gla...
neutral · AI labelView post →Shockingly fun game for a pretty silly concept. The glitchy CRT graphics, fun animations, and wide variety of upgrades and starting weapons makes it fun without even exploring ascendancy levels. The skill level is pretty high, largely due to decision fatigue, but it makes you have to lock in or die in the midgame of fights.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just got an email from @punkcake.club announcing that their very cool game Shotgun King is coming out on mobile soon! Imo this is a perfect game for phones
positive · AI labelView post →SO MUCH RANDOM FUN!! I def wouldn't go into this game without some proir-knowledge of chess (haha). The most enjoyment comes from finding some of the deeper secrets by accident
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you enjoyed FTL, or Into the Breach, this is for you. It's got a loooong list of achievements that will take me some time to get through, but there are so many play styles available and being able to adapt to the cards you have available is critical- it's fantastic- great vibes.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am actually so pissed that I made it to the final floor with this stinky doodoo awful build on RANK 11, the reason I went for this build is because I wanted to either unlock the 0-2 firepower shotgun or the 4+ shotgun shells shotgun... What the hell (Game is "Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate")
negative · AI labelView post →Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate 1.5 shotgun king is one of my favorite casual games of the past few years, and it's easy to see why--it's chess, but you have a shotgun. you can go buy it now. the 1.5 update improved the game massively, rebalancing existing mechanics and adding quite a few (...)
positive · AI labelView post →Like this game has to be up there with Shotgun King and Balatro for me - taking a real "classic" game and adding some nice modern twists and features.
positive · AI labelView post →10 games to get to know me :3 🦑 Splatoon 3 👨🚀 Astroneer 🟩 Minecraft (Modded or not) 🛡️ BOTW/TOTK ⛏️ Deep Rock Galactic 🏴☠️ Sea of Thieves 🕷️ Lethal Company 🧱 Lego Star Wars (any game, 3 is the best one don't @ me) ♟️ Shotgun King ⚔️ Dead Cells Christ I had to stretch that list 😭
neutral · AI labelView post →hardcoregaming101.libsyn.com/shotgun-king Join the Armageddon Game of @kaly.bsky.social @taxowlbear.bsky.social and me as we talk about Shotgun King! the Roguelike Chess game where you're only the Black King with a shotgun against the Chessly world! Marvel at how naturally we discuss John Carpenter!
neutral · AI labelView post →
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