An arcade machine replays tactical chess games
Physical arcade cabinet displaying tactical chess puzzles with animated graphics.
The project
The team developed a tactical chess arcade game for Digital Village, installed on a physical cabinet. Players had to solve timed puzzles without a keyboard, using only two arcade controller buttons. The studio programmed the game in Unity and designed a script to automatically convert PGN data. In the event of a mistake, the cabinet instantly switches to another puzzle to maintain the player's momentum. This project combines variation calculations, dynamic animations, and robust hardware integration on an arcade machine.
- Kiosk
- Interactive installation
- Gamification
- Sound design
- Motion design
- Game / real-time dev
- Software / web dev
- Unity
- Arduino
- Game design
The challenge
The public had to grasp the rules instantly without touching a mouse or a screen. The challenge: adapt complex chess logic to sturdy physical arcade buttons. Every second counts, and the slightest mistake must restart the action without frustrating the player.
Our approach
We developed the entire game engine in Unity, from ingesting PGN chess data to physical feedback. Arcade controls directly maneuver the pieces and handle pawn promotion under time pressure. In the event of a mistake, the system randomly selects a new puzzle to maintain the pace. We completed this gamification with motion design and dedicated sound design to punctuate every move. A final leaderboard records player handles.
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