Minecraft Chess, from The Noble Collection, is a conventional Chess set but where the pieces are all Minecraft constructs...
No rules explanation is needed – you are just playing Chess as you would with any other Chess set, tho’ you may need to adjust at first to some of the unusual shapes, especially as the black and the white pieces all differ from each other. The Knights on both sides are immediately recognisable but, until it’s pointed out, you won’t necessarily spot that the black Creeper and white Iron Golem are Rooks, nor that a Minecraft Ender Dragon takes the role of the black Queen. To ease any learning curve, the pieces are all identified at the front of their bases with their traditional Chess symbol.
The game comes with an attractive two-tone green plastic Chessboard with mock wood surround. It’s made up of four interlocking pieces so it fits into the box, so it makes a change from the more commonplace folding boards.
For Chess set collectors, this Minecraft Chess set is bound to be unlike any others in your collection. We suspect tho’ that it’s Minecraft enthusiasts who are the main target audience for this game. And with Warner Brothers' announcement of a Minecraft movie in the pipeline, we're expecting to see a big upsurge in Minecraft fans.
If you’re looking for Christmas gift ideas, particularly for a youngster who is into Minecraft, then these pieces will obviously appeal and this game may also be a way of initiating them as Chess players. Mind you, the game doesn’t include a Chess rules explanation: the instruction leaflet that’s supplied just shows how the four segments of the board clip together.
Minecraft Chess is available from The Noble Collection at https://noblecollection.co.uk/product/minecraft-chess-set-overworld-heroes-vs-hostile-mobs/