SokoChess White | PC Review
Growing up, even though I was never very good, I enjoyed playing chess. I enjoyed the challenge of learning the different strategies and planning my next move. In my adulthood, rarely do I get the chance to play chess. But SokoChess White by Daisy Games intrigued me as a puzzle-based chess game and felt the urge to pull out the virtual chess board. And while it is simple in concept, it definitely provides a worthy challenge.
Only One Color?
In SokoChess White, you will navigate through seventy levels moving chess pieces into specific tiles to complete each level. This is achieved using different types of chess pieces to move others in the correct positions. Each chess piece moves the same as its real-life counterpart, eg. rooks only move horizontal or vertical, bishops can only move diagonal, etc. You might use a rook to move a bishop to a different-colored tile, or use a knight to swap the position of another chess piece.
SokoChess White is a spin-off of the August 2022 release SokoChess, with the only difference being SokoChess White only uses white chess pieces, meaning no chess piece attacks you. When I first heard that there were no attacking chess pieces, I figured there would not be much challenge. Man, was I wrong. To keep it fresh and continue to add to the challenge, new elements were added every few levels, from bombs in front of chess pieces to breakable tiles. Fortunately, it is not always relentless and alternates between relatively easy to extremely challenging. But figuring out those very challenging levels made me feel like a chess grandmaster!
Technically Speaking
SokoChess White works very well for a mouse and keyboard. Left-click will select and move chess pieces and right-click will deselect a chess piece. There is also a level restart function, as well as an undo button, which comes in handy when you want to backtrack instead of starting over.
Of note, when using a touchscreen, there was no ability to deselect a piece. Either you have to click another chess piece not in sight of the currently selected chess piece, or you have to move the chess piece and undo the function. If they were to make that functional, this game would be perfect for mobile, which I would have preferred.
Wait…Am I At A Wedding?
SokoChess White uses calm, relaxing instrumental music. This is perfect in the setting of chess. However, I was very surprised to hear “Pachelbel’s Canon in D.” While not exclusive to weddings, it did confuse my wife and I when we heard it, as it is usually associated with weddings.
Final Verdict
SokoChess White is a simple, yet challenging puzzle game. While it functions well on the PC, it could easily function as a mobile game and I feel would be better suited on that platform. With relaxing instrumentals to put you into focus, you will dive into a new way to play an old classic.
This review is based on a Windows PC copy of SokoChess White provided by Daisy Game Studio for coverage purposes. It is also available on Linux and macOS.
SokoChess White
$4.99
