Choose The Chess Variants Club
Choose The Chess Variants Club if you want a Simulation experience. The Chess Variants Club launched in 2020.
The Chess Variants Club vs Cat Chess
The Chess Variants Club and Cat Chess both land in Sports, Strategy, Indie 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, Indie on Steam. The Chess Variants Club (2020) is 6 years older than Cat Chess (2026). 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 Cat Chess
Choose Cat Chess if you want the Camera Comfort, Custom Volume Controls, and Stereo Sound side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2026) and ships with the modern feature baseline. Cat Chess launched in 2026.
Both The Chess Variants Club and Cat Chess sit in Sports, Strategy, and Indie on Steam and both list Multi-player, Shared/Split Screen, and Shared/Split Screen 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 |  Cat Chess | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2020 | 2026 |
| Genres | Sports, Strategy, Indie, Simulation, Casual | Sports, Strategy, Indie, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Unrated |
| Price | 4.99 USD | Price unknown |
| Steam reviews | 95.7% positive (23 reviews) | — |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer |
| Developers | Minimol Games | Capricia Labs |
Side by side
- Both share Sports, Strategy, Indie on Steam.
- The Chess Variants Club (2020) is 6 years older than Cat Chess (2026).
The Chess Variants Club vs Cat Chess — FAQ
- Should I play The Chess Variants Club or Cat Chess first?
- If you want chronology, The Chess Variants Club (2020) came out before Cat Chess (2026). 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 Cat Chess similar?
- They overlap on Sports, Strategy, Indie 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.