Ripstone has been making chess games since 2012, but Chess Ultra is the first one it built itself. The studio’s second chess title arrived in June 2017 for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One, with a Switch port following a few months later. It is also the rare sports sim that treats a board game as a place you might actually want to sit.
Four Rooms and Four Piece Sets
Chess Ultra ships with four graphical locations: a fireplace room, a living room, a museum and a dark cave. Each one pairs with one of four chess piece sets. The cave is the odd one out, and it is the one that sells the idea that a chessboard can be staged rather than merely displayed.
The presentation is the hook. Ripstone promises 4K visuals and full VR compatibility, and the PS4 version carries a PlayStation VR mode. That mode is the reason to own this over a free chess app.
Eighty Checkmate Challenges
The tutorial mode splits into three tiers. Beginners get basic lessons. Advanced players get 80 checkmate challenges. The most experienced players get a mode that asks them to recreate historic games by playing the closing moves.
That last mode is the smartest thing in Chess Ultra. It turns study into play, and it gives the game a reason to exist for people who already know how the pieces move.
Cross-Platform Play, Minus PS4
Multiplayer runs local or online. Online supports cross-platform play — except on the PS4 version. The Switch version handles local play differently: lay the console flat on the table and it simulates a chessboard.
The AI has ten difficulty settings. The game calculates your Elo rating whether you play the computer or other people online.
the most breathtaking chess game ever made
That is Ripstone’s own line, and it is doing a lot of work for a game about a board.
What the Table Says
| Feature | Chess Ultra | Pure Chess (2012) |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Ripstone (in-house) | Ripstone |
| Release | June 2017 | 2012 |
| Platforms | PS4, Windows, Xbox One, Switch | — |
| VR mode | PS4 | — |
Pure Chess came first. Chess Ultra is the one Ripstone built itself, and the difference shows in the scope of the modes rather than the rules.
The Elo Rating Problem
Chess Ultra calculates an Elo rating for you. That is a real feature, and it is also the one most likely to sour a casual player. A number that follows you between the AI and online opponents turns a relaxing board game into a graded exam.
The ten AI difficulty settings soften that. You can stay low and never see the number move much.
Where the Cave Earns Its Place
Most chess games look like chess games. Chess Ultra looks like a room. The fireplace, the museum, the cave — these are not decoration. They are the argument that the board deserves atmosphere, and the VR mode is where that argument lands.
On a flat screen, the rooms are pleasant. In VR, they are the product.
The Cave Beats the Living Room
Chess Ultra is the best version of a familiar thing. The 80 checkmate challenges and the historic-game mode give it a spine that Pure Chess never had, and cross-platform online play — PS4 excepted — means there are usually people to play. The Elo rating is the one misstep; it grades a game that did not need grading. The four locations and four piece sets are a smaller offering than the pitch implies, but the VR mode justifies the price of admission on its own. Ripstone’s first in-house game is also its best chess game, and it holds an 8.3/10 critic aggregate across five outlets.
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