Choose The Chess Variants Club
Choose The Chess Variants Club if you want a Sports, Indie, and Simulation experience. On Steam, it's currently about 72% cheaper on the Steam Store. The Chess Variants Club launched in 2020.
The Chess Variants Club vs CrossCraze
The Chess Variants Club and CrossCraze both land in Strategy, Casual 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 Strategy, Casual on Steam. The Chess Variants Club (2020) is 4 years older than CrossCraze (2024). Both sit near 96% positive on Steam (The Chess Variants Club: 23 reviews, CrossCraze: 29). 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 CrossCraze
Choose CrossCraze if it's the newer release (2024) and ships with the modern feature baseline. CrossCraze launched in 2024.
Both The Chess Variants Club and CrossCraze sit in Strategy and Casual on Steam and both list Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Shared/Split Screen PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (95.7% vs 96.6% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 The Chess Variants Club |  CrossCraze | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2020 | 2024 |
| Genres | Sports, Strategy, Indie, Simulation, Casual | Strategy, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Unrated |
| Price | 4.99 USD | 17.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 95.7% positive (23 reviews) | 96.6% positive (29 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player |
| Developers | Minimol Games | ORT Software |
Side by side
- Both share Strategy, Casual on Steam.
- The Chess Variants Club (2020) is 4 years older than CrossCraze (2024).
- Both sit near 96% positive on Steam (The Chess Variants Club: 23 reviews, CrossCraze: 29).
- The Chess Variants Club is currently ~72% cheaper on Steam than CrossCraze (4.99 USD vs. 17.99 USD).
The Chess Variants Club vs CrossCraze — FAQ
- Should I play The Chess Variants Club or CrossCraze first?
- If you want chronology, The Chess Variants Club (2020) came out before CrossCraze (2024). 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 CrossCraze similar?
- They overlap on Strategy, Casual 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.