Checkmate MAGIC

Key Features

🎯 Spellchess Platforming (Pieces = Movement Verbs)
Dash, climb, and jump through tight rooms, then place Rune Pieces (Knight / Rook / Bishop) to rewrite routes. Each piece creates a rule in space: snap-leaps, temporary walls, and diagonal rails that turn “too far” gaps into skillful solutions.

💓 CHECK / RESOLVE Combat (Positioning, Not Mash)
Combat is short, readable, and tactical. Place runes to create threat lines/zones, when an enemy enters, they’re CHECKED (briefly vulnerable). Close in and RESOLVE to seal them with a decisive hit. Clean, elegant, and fair.

🧠 Focus Resource (No Spam, Real Decisions)
Every rune placement costs Focus. Focus regenerates over time (and optionally with movement), forcing smart timing: place now for safety, or save for the next screen.

⏱️ Timing Challenges + Multiple Solutions
Moving platforms, crumble routes, wind pulses, blink tiles, classic precision platforming. But you’re not locked to one answer: smart rune placement opens alternate paths and clutch recoveries.

🌿 Cozy Episodes Between Trials (Frieren Vibe)
Not every scene is danger. Wander quiet towns, help with small errands, share campfire moments, uncover “after the journey” memories, and enjoy light humor that makes the hard rooms hit harder emotionally.

🏛️ Ruins, Myth, and Memory Echoes
Each region has ancient stone, forgotten spells, and lingering “echo” moments, short playable vignettes that reveal how the world remembers the old heroes… and what really happened.

👑 Mini-Bosses and Boss Setpieces (Platforming Fights Back)
Bosses are movement puzzles with patterns, not damage sponges. Every phase teaches a new rule, then gives a clear Mate Window where you cash in your setup.

✨ Cinematic Readability
Big telegraphs, clean silhouettes, rune previews, and crisp effects make every clutch jump, Check, and Resolve feel like a shareable highlight, without cluttering the screen.

🎭 Light Progression (3 Upgrades Max)
No bloated trees. A few meaningful upgrades evolve Spellchess: extra rune slot, recast/recall, longer stability, then it’s all mastery.