Gambonanza Review: A Frustrating, Rewarding Experience I’d Recommend Any Day

Gambonanza is what happens when you mix the modern fascination of roguelite games with Chess, and I’ve really been enjoying it. That said, there are some frustrations, and if you’re a chess expert, this one may be a little on the easy side.

But enough intro, here’s what Gambonanza’s like and whether it’s worth your money or not.

What Is Gambonanza?

This is a Chess roguelite where you’ll be relying on your ability to spot a good move as much as luck. It all starts with a spin for which pieces you start with, and then you play against the AI in various rounds, buying gambits and pieces from the shop between rounds with money you earn from completing rounds and capturing pieces.

Gambits modify the game in some way, such as skipping the enemy’s turn when you capture with a knight on a black tile, or earning money when you put a piece on the board mid-game (called “landing”).

You have access to all the standard chess pieces, but then you also have different floor tiles that can have a massive impact on the game. For example, if you have a blessing tile on the enemy side that’s well defended, you can trade all your pieces with the enemy. Your pieces, being blessed, respawn in your stock and you can land them again.

The aim of the game is to beat five bosses across 25 rounds of chess. Once you achieve that, you’ll unlock strains, which are modifiers that make the whole game harder. It includes new difficulty levels, as well, so if you’re up for the challenge, the game just keeps going.

I mean, it ends eventually. But that’s Gambonanza in a nutshell, so let’s move on to the bad news first.

Bad News First: It’s Frustrating

This isn’t like other roguelites that have populated the genre recently. In Balatro, games are short and easy for the most part, and it’s an excellent time-waster. Same with many others in this weird boardgame/gambling/roguelite niche that’s appeared. Try to treat Gambonanza like a simple time-waster, and you’ll get your ass kicked.

I’ve been playing chess since childhood, but I’m no expert, that’s for sure. I play very casually, and always have. I know two openings, and that’s it. If you’re around that sort of level, you’ll find some challenge here.

The main issue is how stupid the AI is. Some of its moves make absolutely no sense at all. One moment, you’ll be positioning your pieces, laying a sound trap, and the next, the AI will waltz its pieces past your trap and into obvious danger that a child could spot.

It can be frustrating because it makes me feel a little stupid for treating this opponent with any sort of respect. Drop the respect for the opponent, and suddenly, they find the move that forks your queens and loses you a ton of gold.

It’s the worst, however, when you’re trying to conserve pieces, and you run into an Elite queen. Elites can’t be captured until the board is clear, and queens can watch a lot of pieces. Whenever you run into this scenario, you’re going to be sacrificing some pieces (called “sacking” in chess).

As long as you get your economy running and you’re able to constantly replace your pieces, you’ll be okay. Paired with a solid strategy, you’ll be sweeping the board in no time.

It’s Also Highly Addictive

I’ll be honest, I’ve been playing the heck out of the demo since I found it at Steam NextFest, so when the opportunity came along to review this gem, I jumped, and I really can’t stop playing. There are so many different fun and interesting strategies to employ that it’s hard to see this getting boring too quickly.

The effects, the art style, and the audio all combine in a really playable experience that’s lots of fun, even for the chess casual like me.

The bosses also offer variation and sometimes frustration, but it’s all part of a fun new challenge and a very welcome new dimension to chess, which I haven’t played in a while, mind you.

Overall, I highly recommend Gambonanza, whether you’re a chess fan or a roguelite fan. Either way, you’ll learn as you go, and I bet you’ll have tons of fun as you do. It’s a fantastically rewarding experience that most people will eek plenty of enjoyment out of.