Choose The Chess Variants Club
Choose The Chess Variants Club if you want an Indie game with Shared/Split Screen and Shared/Split Screen PvP. The Chess Variants Club launched in 2020.
The Chess Variants Club vs Chess!
The Chess Variants Club and Chess! both land in Sports, Strategy, Simulation on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Sports, Strategy, Simulation on Steam. The Chess Variants Club (2020) is 3 years older than Chess! (2023). The Chess Variants Club scores higher on Steam reviews (95.7% positive) than Chess! (64.3% positive). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Chess!
Choose Chess! if you want the Online PvP side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2023) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Chess! launched in 2023.
Both The Chess Variants Club and Chess! sit in Sports, Strategy, and Simulation on Steam and both list Multi-player and PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 The Chess Variants Club |  Chess! | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Genres | Sports, Strategy, Indie, Simulation, Casual | Sports, Strategy, Simulation, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Unrated |
| Price | 4.99 USD | 4.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 95.7% positive (23 reviews) | 64.3% positive (28 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer |
| Developers | Minimol Games | Exeter Game Studios |
Side by side
- Both share Sports, Strategy, Simulation on Steam.
- The Chess Variants Club (2020) is 3 years older than Chess! (2023).
- The Chess Variants Club scores higher on Steam reviews (95.7% positive) than Chess! (64.3% positive).
- Chess! is currently ~0% cheaper on Steam than The Chess Variants Club (4.99 USD vs. 4.99 USD).
The Chess Variants Club vs Chess! — FAQ
- Should I play The Chess Variants Club or Chess! first?
- If you want chronology, The Chess Variants Club (2020) came out before Chess! (2023). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are The Chess Variants Club and Chess! similar?
- They overlap on Sports, Strategy, Simulation on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.