King's Siege: a chess tower defense

A free tower defense where the towers are chess pieces, and each one strikes only the squares it attacks in chess.

No download, no ads, no sign-up. On a computer, or on a phone held sideways.

A white knight leaps over a burning chessboard toward the black army and the giant Black King

How it plays

The black army marches down a road toward your king. You place white pieces beside the road, and each piece strikes only the road squares it would attack in a game of chess. Lines stop at the first piece in the way, just like on a chessboard, so where you stand matters as much as what you buy.

And black plays too. Between waves it lands a piece on the board, moves one, or makes one stronger. A piece you defend is avenged at once, the way it is in chess.

Every piece attacks like in chess

Pawn: strikes the two squares diagonally ahead. It earns seniority for every wave it survives, and can then be promoted, up to a queen.
Knight: strikes in knight jumps. No piece and no wall blocks it, and every hit stuns the enemy for a moment.
Bishop: rapid fire along the diagonals, up to the first blocker. It heals your pieces that stand on its diagonals.
Rook: a slow, heavy cannon along its row and column. It punches through armour, and black pieces shoot it first.
Queen: rows, columns and diagonals at once, and the pieces next to her hit harder.
King: stands at the end of the road and strikes the squares next to him. Every enemy that reaches him costs lives. He can wear one crown for the game.

Three worlds, thirty arenas

The Kingdom: classic chess, on square boards.
The Black Fortresses: boards shaped like castles, with walls, moats and spiral roads.
The Variant Lands: every board keeps a rule from a real chess variant: Fog of War, Atomic, Crazyhouse, the Horde, Chess960 and more.

Every world ends with bosses that know chess tricks: a king who castles away from danger, a pawn that promotes at every corner of the road, a black Amazon that strikes your pieces.

Legendary pieces from fairy chess

Win three legendary pieces by beating their black twins: the Cardinal (bishop and knight), the Chancellor (rook and knight) and the Amazon (queen and knight). Every piece also has three upgrade paths built on chess ideas: forks, pins, batteries, the fianchetto, en passant, a queen sacrifice.

A battle in the Variant Lands: white pieces fire along their chess lines at the black army on the road — Atomic: every enemy that falls explodes.

The Black Cardinal boss arrives on the board — A boss: the Black Cardinal.

The Amazon, a legendary piece, takes the field — The Amazon joins your army.

The map of the Black Fortresses, one road from arena to arena — The map: one road through the worlds.

More to play every day

A daily challenge with its own rule and a board of the day.
An endless mode that climbs in levels, once you have won the first world.
Goals, a star tree of upgrades and a story told chapter by chapter as you cross the map.

Questions

Is King's Siege free?

Yes. The whole game is free, with no ads and nothing to buy.

Do I need to download anything?

No. It plays in the browser on a computer or a phone held sideways. You can also install it like an app from the browser.

Do I need to know chess?

No. The first battle teaches by doing, and the guide shows the squares each piece attacks. If you know chess, you already know how every tower works.

Do I need an account?

No. Your progress is saved on your device. Signing in with Google is optional, to keep your progress on every device and to appear on the daily board.

Play King's Siege