ShieldsandAssassins
Guide the White King to safety.
A single-player puzzle game built on the movement of chess pieces. Plan every step, protect your King, and when the board demands it, sacrifice a piece to open the way.
Chess rules. Puzzle goals.
Shields and Assassins is not a chess match. There is no opponent to checkmate. Each level is a handcrafted board with one goal: get the White King to the exit alive.
You already know how the pieces move. The challenge is using that knowledge under pressure: reading the board, choosing the right piece, timing each move, and deciding which piece the King can afford to lose.
- FamiliarPieces move the way you know from chess, with one twist.
- FocusedA clear goal on every board: the King reaches the exit.
- DeepPositioning, timing, memory and sacrifice decide each level.
A chess King
Eight directions
Your King
Four directions. No diagonals.
A King who can't cut corners.
Here, the King and the Pawns are handicapped. They move only in the four cardinal directions, never diagonally.
A single blocked square can cut off the King's only route. Every step counts, and your other pieces have to clear the path, guard the flanks and sometimes stand in harm's way.
Every board is a question. You find the answer.
Each level hands you a few pieces, a dangerous board and an exit. Solving it takes the same five steps, but the boards never get easier.
Read the board
See where the danger is, where the exit is, and which squares your pieces can reach.
Plan the route
Work out the King's path, knowing he can't move diagonally.
Shield the King
Position your other pieces to block threats and open the way forward.
Sacrifice wisely
Some boards can only be solved by giving up a piece. Choose which one.
Reach the exit
Get the King out safely, then face a harder board.
Easy to learn. Hard to master.
Chess-based puzzles
Built entirely on chess-piece movement. Familiar, intuitive and full of strategy.
Strategic sacrifice
Losing a piece is not failure. Often it is the solution. Plan who falls so the King can rise.
Handcrafted boards
Every level is designed by hand, with a carefully paced progression that keeps the challenge fresh.
Rising difficulty
The puzzles step up in complexity every five levels, so there is always something new to learn.
Invisible traps
Late-game boards hide their dangers. Remember what you've seen, and watch carefully.
Made for completionists
Clear level-by-level progress that rewards finishing every board.
Every five levels, a step up.
The game starts gently and grows with you. Later levels ask for stronger strategic thinking, pattern recognition, careful sacrifice and long-term planning. By the end, some dangers are invisible, and only memory and close observation bring the King home.
Learn the moves
Small boards, clear paths.
Tighter boards
Positioning and timing.
The price
Sacrifice to progress.
Hidden danger
Traps you must read.
Unseen
Invisible traps. Memory wins.
A miniature world of marble and stone.
A stylised 3D fantasy board game, presented like a handcrafted diorama: marble pieces with royal gold detail, weathered stone boards and soft cinematic light. It is clean, readable and made to look good on a big screen.
Simple to pick up. Worth mastering.
Easy to understand at a glance, with real depth for players who love a hard puzzle.
Where we are.
Shields and Assassins is in development for PC and will be released on Steam. Release timing will be announced on the Steam page.
In development
Building and polishing levels, testing difficulty and tuning the puzzle progression.
Steam page
The store page goes live, so you can wishlist the game and follow updates.
Release on Steam
Shields and Assassins launches on PC through Steam.
Before you ask.
Do I need to be good at chess?
No. You only need to know how the pieces move, and the game teaches the rest. There is no opponent to outplay and no openings to learn. Each level is a puzzle with a solution.
Is it a chess game?
Not in the usual sense. It uses chess-piece movement as the rules of a puzzle. Your goal is to get the White King to the exit safely, not to checkmate anyone.
What makes it hard?
The King and Pawns can't move diagonally, the boards grow more complex every five levels, some solutions need a sacrifice, and late levels hide their traps.
Where and when can I get it?
It is coming to PC on Steam. It is still in development, and the release date will be announced on the Steam page.
Can I preview or cover it?
Yes. For press, creators and early-access requests, write to info@InitusInteractive.com.
The King awaits his escort.
Shields and Assassins is coming to Steam. Follow development to hear when the store page goes live.