In Last Gambit, a Void Queen can leave the board on one side and reappear on the opposite edge, and a Catapult can launch one of your own pieces across the board. The game is a 2026 chess roguelike on Steam. It’s free right now, and if you add it to your library before Nov. 13 you keep it permanently.
Anyone who picks it up after that date will pay $4.99.
The deadline is the 1.0 launch
Last Gambit has cost nothing for the whole of its Early Access period. That changes on Nov. 13, 2026, when the game reaches version 1.0. Developer Mads has priced the full release at $4.99 to help pay for the servers that keep the online multiplayer mode running.
If you haven’t made up your mind, the timing is what counts. An update on the game’s official Steam store page says players who download it before the switch will keep it free after the 1.0 price takes effect. Claim it now and you own it.
Twenty-seven pieces, most of them locked
The setup is easy to follow. You put together an army of chess pieces, some standard and some made up for the game, then use it to defeat bosses and work through a story. The game has 27 pieces. You begin with only a few and unlock the others over time, and each new piece makes the battles easier.
Here is how the Steam store page lists the roster:
“27 pieces, from the six classics to ones you won’t find in any chess club: the Unicorn, the Griffon, the Void Queen that leaves through one edge and comes back through the other, the Phoenix that returns from its ashes, Catapults and Trebuchets that hurl your own pieces, the Summoner, the Mirror.”
The page also explains how you earn them:
“You start with a handful. The rest have to be discovered: by taking down the Story bosses, by winning under crazy conditions (with your King strolling across half the board, or coming back from ten points down), by earning trophies, by experimenting in the Laboratory. Every piece you discover is one more weapon, online too.”
Those unlock conditions are the best part of the listing. Nobody wins with their King wandering across half the board by accident, so the game pays you for taking a risk on purpose and pulling it off.
What players have said so far
Last Gambit launched on Aug. 27, 2026, and has been updated fairly often since then. It offers a story mode and an online multiplayer mode. Reviews are positive, though there aren’t many of them yet, and most players have praised the concept and the story bosses.
A handful of good reviews for an Early Access game shows that people like the premise. It says less about whether the game stays interesting over many hours. Since it costs nothing, finding out carries no risk.
The AI art disclosure
Several parts of Last Gambit’s artwork use AI, the pieces and skins among them. The developer disclosed this on Steam and said any AI-generated art was reviewed and refined. If that rules the game out for you, you can decide before downloading.
If it doesn’t, the choice is simple. Download it free today and keep it, or pay $4.99 after Nov. 13 for the same game, Void Queen and all.