Check Mates (DEMO)

Check Mates is a chess-based visual novel demo for the NaNoRenO Game Jam 2026!

This is my first time making a VN and my first time using the Ren'Py engine.

My main inspiration for this game is the ridiculous amount of hours I've spent playing chess (badly), but I also wanted to strike a balance between those who don't know anything about chess and actual chess players. Please don't ask me about my shoddy ELO. 

I made Check Mates as a teaser for potentially a bigger game, so there is no full conclusion to the story (yet) - let me know what you think and if you'd like to see more!

✦✦✦ Summary 

You play as Knight, a sentient chess piece in the prestigious black chess team, the Kingslayers. You've only recently joined their team, and this slice of the action takes place the day before the chess championships.

Drama, gossip and glimpses of romance await!

✦✦✦ Gameplay 

• Choice-based gameplay with two possible endings (for now).
• Playtesters report that it takes between 25 - 60 minutes to complete. Depends on how fast you read! But there are save slots.
• If you're new to Visual Novels, essentially, the way to move forward through dialogue and choices is through left mouse clicks.

✦✦✦ Credits 

• Story & writing, sprite & cutscene art, sound design and code: Úna-Minh Kavanagh
• Sound effects: Pixabay & Freesound CC0, CC3.0 & CC4.0 Licences (See in-game credits)
• Tools: Wattson's Ren'Py Auto Highlight
• Backgrounds: Potatomaster’s Mansion Background Pack & Pixabay
• Music: Tyler Graving, Max Stack, Gertraut Hecher
• Voices: Luck Ryder, Charlene Putney, Dan Bosley, Cici Fyre, SCICOFILMS,  pfranzen, owly-bee and Úna-Minh Kavanagh
• Playtesters: Naoimh Murchan, Wojtek Borowicz, Charlene Putney, Kitty Crawford, Emanuele Chiappetta, Dan Griliopoulos

Psst! Wanna see some of the chess moves I mention in action? Play around with the chess analysis system!

✦✦✦ The future?

I would love to continue to develop it! And if so, some goals include:

• More content! What comes before or what comes after.
• Fully drawn backgrounds by meeeeee
• More still images for key moments
• Cleaning up sprites and adding move designs, e.g. hands in different locations
• Animations like blinking
• Profile pages for characters
• Actual visible affection counter
• Skills counter when you take certain actions in-game. Think Persona-style