PowerCard Chess

One night, 8-year-old Sammy had an inspiration and showed his 56-year-old father how to combine the ancient Game of Kings with the excitement of modern games that use cards to give superpowers to the player. Bedtime went out the window as father and son feverishly scribbled powers onto a deck of index cards and the first game of PowerCard Chess was played straight through to shouts of laughter. Over the next few months, rules were refined, many games were played to test them, Dad learned a great deal about graphic design, the use of Component Studio, and copyright law, and now we present PowerCard Chess to you.

You can download the rulebook for PowerCard Chess for free using the link at the right of this page. You will need a chess set to play (it is not included with the game), and the tokens will work on most boards (with squares 1" on a side or greater). This is the deluxe version of the game; it plays the same as the economy version also on sale here at The Game Crafter. The differences between the sets are described below.

Each turn begins with the draw of a card that may allow the player special movement (such as borrowing the movement of another piece or moving a piece twice) or take a special action (such as resurrecting a captured piece, firing a cannon across the board, or taking an opponent's piece for ransom). Some cards let you place tokens on the board that might shield one of your pieces, cage an opponent's piece, lay siege to a rook, or place a wall across the board.

PowerCard Chess is played to the last piece standing -- when a King is taken, another piece inherits the monarchy and turns into the King. This allows plenty of time for a player to come from behind with the right combination of luck and cleverness. Two cards can be played per turn, and the combination of different powers with different pieces provides opportunities for creative devastation so cool that you may find yourself explaining to your opponent a better way to demolish you because it would be a shame to miss it.

The game includes blank cards and tokens for you to invent your own powers (permanent marker works well on the cards). Send us your ideas at powercardchess@gmail.com and we may include your idea (and credit you) in a future expansion deck.

50% of our profits from PowerCard Chess will be split between the Community Foundation of San Joaquin, providing relief to families affected by COVID-19 near our home in California's Central Valley, and the Clean Air Task Force, fighting climate change and supporting clean energy. The other 50% will go toward Sammy’s graphic novel budget.

This deluxe edition includes a glossy printed copy of the rulebook, an attractive box, tokens that punch out, and a protective UV coating and "linen" texture on the cards.

The economy edition requires you to cut the tokens out with scissors and download the rulebook, has no box, and the cards are the normal (but high-quality) Game Crafter stock. It includes a small envelope to hold the tokens.