Assume the role of an elemental god facing off against another and command your troopers on the battlefloor to move, capture, and even directly attack your opponent! This isn't about cornering some king... in Chokur, it's about using troopers of all ranks, kings included, to capture enemy troopers so that their souls may be used to power your divine magic and attack capabilities. Captured troopers used in divine attack formations closely resemble the hands formed in poker, with trooper types mapped to a standard deck and the rules governing their movement remaining nearly identical to chess.
Chokur is for those that crave more from chess, appreciate the dynamic/random aspects of card games like poker, but don't want to play something wildly different from standard chess or poker. If you already know the rules of those games (specifically, how each chess piece moves and the rankings of poker hands), then you are already well on your way to mastering Chokur! This is especially true when playing "Vanilla" Chokur, which is just a way of referring to playing the game without effect cards (these are like the jokers/wildcards found in other card games).
Effect cards can dramatically change how you play but without making the game feel too whimsical or unbalanced. Standard effect cards change common aspects/rules of the game and can be played by gods of any element. Elemental effect cards, on the other hand, grant gods of the corresponding element special abilities only they can possess. In general:
Single Player Campaign
Build your dream deck from a selection of 56 trooper cards and 130 effect cards and compete against several AI opponents across five increasingly difficult circuits: White, Green, Blue, Red, and Black. Your ability to survive a circuit will not only depend on your tactical skills on the battlefloor but will also be affected by the choices you make in between matches. That's when you'll upgrade your army (deck) by purchasing new trooper and effect cards as well as upgrades to their stats. Divine attack formation (Pair, Three of a Kind, etc.) bonuses can also be upgraded, so choose wisely!
Exhibition & Ranked Matches
Practice against an AI/human opponent in an exhibition match or play against a friend (via invite) in a ranked match, where the results affect your ranking on the global leaderboards! As the host of a match, you decide if it should be played with or without effect cards, how many troopers are initially deployed to the battlefloor, the battle direction (vertical/horizontal), and other rules governing gameplay mechanics.
Dedicated servers with ranked/unranked matchmaking will be forthcoming if interest in this game reaches a point that justifies the associated costs, etc.
Game Modes
In addition to deciding whether to play with effect cards or without (Vanilla Chokur), a match can be governed by one of four different subsets of rules (game modes):
Default (the standard ruleset applies)
King of the Hill
Death March
Kill Shot
Bullseye
See the official Game Rules manual for descriptions of these game modes.
Battle Venues
Compete in a variety of dynamic environments that (optionally) respond to changes in the state of play, creating brilliant visual effects and other environmental phenomena (cosmetic only; does not alter gameplay mechanics). The current selection of venues includes:
Oceanic
Volcanic
Atmospheric
Terranic
Deep Space
Nexus
The Void
Local Statistics & Global Leaderboards
There are several performance metrics recorded for you to track, improve upon and boast about to your friends (or not!) These include things like the most damage ever done with a divine attack, quickest victory ever won (in terms of turns taken), and more. These statistics are stored locally (or in the Steam cloud, if enabled) and are only visible to you, while in-game. For ranked matches, your win/loss record will be publicly available on Steam for all to see!
Achievements
Obsessed with earning achievements? Don't worry, Chokur has them, and you'll be able to view them in-game and on Steam, of course!
Game Rules Deep Dive
Want to learn more? Check out the Game Rules manual by clicking the View the manual link on this page.