Play Pawnbarian

Pawnbarian
by Jan Wojtecki
Released: Jul 26
Free ($6.99 to unlock full game)

What if chess involved picking a hero character and battling goblins and golems using cards you upgrade in between battles? Well, you get a something that doesn't end up feeling much like chess, but otherwise is an inventive and highly repeatable dungeon-crawler.

Why you should play it

Pawnbarian takes a bunch of amazing ideas from some tried-and-true game types and swirls them together to create its own identity. It's not a chess game, or a card game, or a roguelike. Its unique classes allow for some truly unexpected play styles that all deal with the variety and depth of enemies in completely different ways, ensuring you'll have tons of new challenges waiting for you every time you open the app.

Why you might not play it

Between this game any my last suggestion, Dicey Dungeons, you might think I have a slight bias toward this style of game. You might also be right, but there's also just a lot of innovation happening when it comes to mobile roguelikes, and Pawnbarian offers a flavor of it that you truly can't find anywhere else.

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