Nichess – Chess with Health Points

Name: Nichess – Chess with Health Points
Availability: InStock
Author: wilbur_whateley

by wilbur_whateley·Apr 29, 2026·3 points·8 comments

Visit Project View on HN

AI Analysis

●MidCrowd Pleaser

Chess with HP and abilities feels more like a tactics RPG than classic chess.

Strengths

•Health points and special abilities allow for finer balancing than standard piece values.
•Mechanics like pushing and pulling add a spatial layer absent from traditional chess.
•Playable in the browser without requiring an account to start a game.

Weaknesses

•YouTube demo requires sign-in to view, creating unnecessary friction for a Show HN.
•Lacks a written ruleset on the landing page, forcing users to watch videos to learn.

Post Description

Hi, I've been making a game like chess where pieces have special abilities and health points. This allows for much finer balancing and many more variants compared to regular chess. For example, pieces can push or pull other pieces, deal area of effect (AOE) damage, have lots of health points and be difficult to destroy, use ranged attacks, etc.

There is no video explaining all the rules, but the current version is very similar to chess. These are the main things you need to know:

1) Standard attack - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhGNNlnM7K8

2) Special abilities - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbE_jL7RB0E

Here's the link - https://www.nichess.org/ (you can try it without making an account, just start a new game).

If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.