Choose Glow Chess
Choose Glow Chess if you want a Massively Multiplayer experience. On Steam, it's currently about 86% cheaper on the Steam Store. Glow Chess launched in 2018.
Glow Chess vs The Chess Variants Club
Glow Chess and The Chess Variants Club 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. Glow Chess (2018) is 2 years older than The Chess Variants Club (2020). Glow Chess is currently ~86% cheaper on Steam than The Chess Variants Club (0.69 USD vs. 4.99 USD). 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 The Chess Variants Club
Choose The Chess Variants Club if you want a Simulation experience. The Chess Variants Club launched in 2020.
Both Glow Chess and The Chess Variants Club 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
 Glow Chess |  The Chess Variants Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2018 | 2020 |
| Genres | Sports, Strategy, Indie, Massively Multiplayer, Casual | Sports, Strategy, Indie, Simulation, Casual |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Unrated |
| Price | 0.69 USD | 4.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 1 reviews | 95.7% positive (23 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player |
| Developers | 13-lab | Minimol Games |
Side by side
- Both share Sports, Strategy, Indie on Steam.
- Glow Chess (2018) is 2 years older than The Chess Variants Club (2020).
- Glow Chess is currently ~86% cheaper on Steam than The Chess Variants Club (0.69 USD vs. 4.99 USD).
Glow Chess vs The Chess Variants Club — FAQ
- Should I play Glow Chess or The Chess Variants Club first?
- If you want chronology, Glow Chess (2018) came out before The Chess Variants Club (2020). 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 Glow Chess and The Chess Variants Club 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.