Shanghai, China - October 13, 2026 - Players looking for games like Pawnbarian, Into the Breach or Slay the Spire have a new chess roguelike deckbuilder to try. Chess of the Hidden Gates, from Shanghai studio AgentGameLab, is played on a board, and every card in the hand is a move from xiangqi (Chinese chess). The full game is planned for Q4 2026 and can be played solo or in online co-op for two to three players. Its free single-player demo has been on Steam since early August, and it is part of Steam Next Fest, October 19–26, 2026.
For players who liked Pawnbarian
Pawnbarian showed that a chess piece's move can work as a card. Chess of the Hidden Gates takes that idea to xiangqi, where the horse leaps, the cannon has to fire over a screening piece, and a pawn that crosses the river never turns back. Players who know western chess will recognise the shapes of those moves within minutes; the hundreds of millions who grew up with xiangqi already know them.
For players who liked Into the Breach
Every enemy marks the square it is about to hit before it swings. Step out of that square and the blow lands on nothing; stand in the wrong place and the board closes in. Fights are won by reading the board and baiting enemies into the position you want. The strongest card in the hand, played from the wrong square, still loses.
It is a deckbuilder played on a board rather than a squad tactics game, and every move comes from the hand the player draws.
For players who liked Slay the Spire
The deck is the run. The full game has over 300 cards across four rarities, each one a move, a kill or a trap, plus three classes with their own systems: Momentum for the Horse Master, Steadfast defense for the Pawn Commander, Relay artillery for the Cannon Adept. Terrain, threats, beasts and drops are reshuffled every run. The Nine Star bosses each rewrite one rule of the fight, and Chiyou waits past the last of them.
Beaten enemies can also join the deck, which Slay the Spire does not offer. Finish a beast with a Spirit Seal and it becomes a card that fights on the player's side, with its own health, damage and temper. There are fifty-one seals in all.
For players who play Slay the Spire 2 in co-op
The full game supports online co-op for two to three players. Each player brings a class and a deck to the same board. The party moves on when everyone picks the same node on the map, while rewards and shops stay each player's own. Every extra player makes the fights bigger: enemies get more health, and more of them join the board.
Position becomes a team problem. A teammate standing on the board is a screen the Cannon Adept can fire over, and every class has co-op-exclusive cards built around helping the others. If a player drops out, the host can hand that seat to a bot until they reconnect. Co-op is part of the full game; the Next Fest demo is single-player.
What is in the free demo
- The Horse Master class
- Three Nine Star bosses: Tianchong, Tianqin and Tianxin
- A run takes 30 to 45 minutes
- Windows and macOS, in 10 languages: English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Brazilian Portuguese
Quick answers
- What are some chess roguelike deckbuilder games? Chess of the Hidden Gates is a chess roguelike deckbuilder, with xiangqi moves for cards and enemy attacks telegraphed on the board. Pawnbarian works from western chess moves instead, and Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate is another chess roguelike.
- What games are like Pawnbarian? Chess of the Hidden Gates is a game like Pawnbarian: each card is a chess move, here taken from xiangqi, and the run is a roguelike deckbuilder.
- What games are like Into the Breach and Slay the Spire? Chess of the Hidden Gates puts a Slay the Spire-style deck on an Into the Breach-style board: every enemy shows its target square before it strikes, and every card is a chess move.
- Are there co-op roguelike deckbuilders? Chess of the Hidden Gates supports online co-op for two to three players in its full game, on a shared board with xiangqi moves as cards. Slay the Spire 2 and Across the Obelisk also have online co-op.
- What games are like Slay the Spire 2 with co-op? Chess of the Hidden Gates is a roguelike deckbuilder with online co-op for two to three players. Unlike Slay the Spire 2, its cards are also moves on a shared board, so teammates' positions matter.
- Is Chess of the Hidden Gates a tactics game? Chess of the Hidden Gates is a roguelike deckbuilder played on a board. Position matters as much as it does in a tactics game, but every move comes from the cards in hand.
- Is the demo free? Chess of the Hidden Gates has a free single-player demo on Steam for Windows and macOS, and it is playable during Steam Next Fest, October 19–26, 2026.
Availability
- Free demo on Steam (Windows, macOS): https://store.steampowered.com/app/4981020/
- Steam Next Fest: October 19–26, 2026
- Full release: Q4 2026
- Press kit: https://press-kit.agentgamelab.com/
About AgentGameLab
AgentGameLab is an independent game studio based in Shanghai, China, and the game brand of Shanghai Yuntian Zhumeng Digital Technology Co., Ltd. The studio makes small, systems-driven games for PC and mobile. Its current project, Chess of the Hidden Gates, is a chess roguelike deckbuilder coming to Steam in Q4 2026.
More at https://agentgamelab.com/.
Media Contact
Company Name: AgentGameLab
Contact Person: Media Relations
Email: Send Email
City: Shanghai
Country: China
Website: https://agentgamelab.com/
