This started as a Unity 2D chess template — something reusable, data-driven, no hardcoded rules. Then at some point I thought it'd be fun to give it actual polish, got inspired by Balatro's aesthetic, and here we are.
The good news: it's still a template. The visual layer sits completely on top. The underlying architecture — ScriptableObject configs, modular move patterns, event-driven game flow — is untouched. You can strip the visuals and use this as a starting point for your own chess variant without fighting the code.
🎨 Visual
- Balatro-inspired animated shader background
- Smooth board flip animation for local 2-player
- Drag-and-drop piece control with scale-up feedback
- Highlight system for valid moves, captures, check
⚙️ Gameplay
- Fully configurable pieces via ScriptableObjects — custom move patterns, no code needed
- Castling, en passant, pawn promotion (with piece selection UI)
- Per-team countdown timer
- Check, checkmate, and stalemate detection
🔧 Technical
- JSON save/load with multiple named slots
- Audio manager with sound priority queue
- Music crossfade between menu / game / game over
- Pause menu, game over screen, save/load panel
Scripts/
├── Config/
│ └── Configs.cs — ScriptableObjects: BoardConfig, PieceConfig, GameSetupConfig
├── Core/
│ ├── BoardGenerator.cs — spawns cells, CellToWorld/WorldToCell with rotation support
│ ├── Cell.cs — single cell: visuals, highlight, click event
│ ├── Piece.cs — piece component: drag, counter-rotation during board flip
│ └── PieceSpawner.cs — spawns and manages all piece GameObjects
├── Data/
│ └── DataModels.cs — serializable structs: SaveData, MoveRecord, GameState
├── Logic/
│ ├── BoardFlipper.cs — rotates board, pieces counter-rotate to stay upright
│ ├── MoveValidator.cs — move generation from MovePattern, check/mate detection
│ ├── SelectionHandler.cs — click + drag input, executes moves, handles promotion
│ ├── TimerManager.cs — per-team countdown
│ └── TurnManager.cs — turn flow, fires events for move/capture/castling/check
├── Other/
│ └── AnimatorSupport.cs — helper for triggering sounds from Animator
├── Save/
│ └── SaveManager.cs — JSON save slots in Application.persistentDataPath
├── UI/
│ ├── UIManager.cs — all panels: menu, HUD, pause, save/load, game over, promotion
│ └── ShaderController.cs — smooth property transitions on the background shader
├── GameManager.cs — central singleton, wires everything together
└── AudioManager.cs — priority queue for sounds, crossfade music
GameManager — GameManager + SaveManager + AudioManager
Board — BoardGenerator
Pieces — PieceSpawner
Logic
├── MoveValidator
├── TurnManager
├── SelectionHandler
├── TimerManager
└── BoardFlipper
Canvas — UIManager
├── MainMenuPanel
├── HUDPanel
├── PauseMenuPanel
├── SaveLoadPanel
├── GameOverPanel
└── PromotionPanel
Main Camera
Each piece type is a PieceConfig ScriptableObject (Assets → Create → ChessTemplate → PieceConfig).
Move behavior is entirely data-driven through MovePattern entries:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
dRow | Row delta per step. Flipped for team 1 automatically. |
dCol | Column delta per step. |
applyDirectionToCol | Also flip dCol for team 1. Use for pawn diagonal attacks. |
slide | Repeat until blocked — rook, bishop, queen. |
canCapture | Can land on an enemy piece. |
canMoveEmpty | Can land on an empty cell. Set to false for pawn diagonals. |
firstMoveOnly | Only usable on the piece's first move. Pawn double-advance. |
Pawn setup (4 patterns):
| dRow | dCol | applyDirectionToCol | canCapture | canMoveEmpty | firstMoveOnly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| 2 | 0 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 1 | 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| 1 | -1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
Special flags:
isRoyal— losing this piece triggers check/checkmate. King only.canCastleWith— can castle with the royal piece. Rook only.canPromote— triggers promotion on reaching the last rank. Pawn only.
BoardConfig controls the visual side of the board — grid dimensions, cell size, light/dark colors or sprite overrides, highlight colors for selection/moves/captures/check, and border styling.
The board is always centered on the Board GameObject. Move the object to reposition everything.
GameSetupConfig defines the full starting state:
- Which
BoardConfigto use - Team definitions (name, color, index)
PiecePlacementlist —PieceConfig+row+col+teamIndex- Rule toggles:
enableCastling,enableEnPassant,enablePromotion
Team 0 starts at row 0 (bottom), team 1 at row 7 (top) for classic 8×8.
Castling — MoveValidator checks that both king and rook are unmoved, the path is clear, and no traversed square is under attack. SelectionHandler.ExecuteCastling moves both pieces.
En passant — the validator tracks the last double pawn move in LastDoublePawnMove. The capturing pawn moves diagonally to an empty cell; RemovePiece clears the captured pawn at enPassantCaptureRow/Col.
Promotion — fires when a pawn with canPromote reaches the last rank. Input locks until the player picks a piece from UIManager.ShowPromotionPanel. No panel assigned → auto-promotes to the first entry in promotionConfigs.
BoardFlipper rotates boardTransform. Each Piece calls transform.rotation = Quaternion.identity in LateUpdate to stay visually upright regardless of what the board is doing. CellToWorld and WorldToCell both factor in transform.rotation, so clicks and drag hit the right cells at any angle.
Two modes — automatic on turn change (autoFlipOnTurn), or via a manual button. flipDuration = 0 skips the animation.
When multiple events fire in one frame (move + check, for example), only the highest-priority sound plays. Everything goes through RequestSound and resolves in LateUpdate:
| Priority | Event |
|---|---|
| 0 | Checkmate |
| 1 | Check |
| 2 | Capture |
| 3 | Castling |
| 4 | Move |
| 5 | Game start |
| 6 | Game over |
| 7 | UI |
UI sounds (PlayUIClick, PlayUIOpen) skip the queue and play immediately on a separate source.
Music crossfades between two AudioSources using a coroutine. Call PlayMenuMusic / PlayGameMusic / PlayGameOverMusic from GameManager at the right moments.
JSON files land in Application.persistentDataPath/saves/.
| Platform | Path |
|---|---|
| Windows | %AppData%/../LocalLow/<Company>/<App>/saves/ |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/<Company>/<App>/saves/ |
| Android / iOS | App sandbox |
Each save stores the full board state, move history, current turn, and timer budgets. Multiple named slots supported.
⚠️ pieceIdinPieceConfigis the JSON key for piece type. Renaming it breaks existing saves.
All assets in this project — music, sprites, sound effects, and UI — are either free to use or made by me.
One exception: the animated background shader is taken directly from Balatro. It's included here purely for personal/educational use. If you're building something commercial, swap it out.
- Unity 2021.3 LTS or newer
- TextMeshPro —
Window → TextMeshPro → Import TMP Essentials - No external packages