Posted: 16 months ago, last updated 4 months ago.
Author: @GeekDadGamer, Jo Robertson and @GrowingUpGamers.
Overview
Pawnbarian is a puzzle game where you attack enemies in a dungeon based on chess moves. You build a deck of different pieces and use them in battles
You play as a warrior on a 5-by-5 chessboard that represents a level in a dungeon, filled with various enemies that attack in turn-based fashion - bloodthirsty Capybears, imposing Golems, and eldritch Blightsacks. Each dungeon is 7 levels deep and you use the same deck and health bar through all 7 levels.
Play involves selecting a card, which have traditional chess piece symbols on them, and then moving your figure in the pattern allowed by that type of piece (diagonally for a Bishop, L-shape for a Knight, etc). Your aim is to land on all the enemies to capture them while avoiding or shielding yourself from their attacks. The game tells you how much damage each square will get at the end of your move so you need to be strategic about where you end up as well as who you attack, as they have a wide variety of special abilities.
As you complete each encounter and progress to the next floor, you can either purchase additional health or upgrade the cards with additional powers with the gold you find in the dungeon. You can choose from six characters, each with a different deck and core mechanic. There are also three themed dungeons to tackle that require a unique approach.
You play as a warrior on a 5-by-5 chessboard that represents a level in a dungeon, filled with various enemies that attack in turn-based fashion - bloodthirsty Capybears, imposing Golems, and eldritch Blightsacks. Each dungeon is 7 levels deep and you use the same deck and health bar through all 7 levels.
Play involves selecting a card, which have traditional chess piece symbols on them, and then moving your figure in the pattern allowed by that type of piece (diagonally for a Bishop, L-shape for a Knight, etc). Your aim is to land on all the enemies to capture them while avoiding or shielding yourself from their attacks. The game tells you how much damage each square will get at the end of your move so you need to be strategic about where you end up as well as who you attack, as they have a wide variety of special abilities.
As you complete each encounter and progress to the next floor, you can either purchase additional health or upgrade the cards with additional powers with the gold you find in the dungeon. You can choose from six characters, each with a different deck and core mechanic. There are also three themed dungeons to tackle that require a unique approach.
Game Details
Release Date: 24/09/2021
Platforms: Android, PC and iOS
Content Rating: PEGI 7
Skill Rating: 9+ year-olds
Players: 1
Genres: Fighting and Puzzle
Accessibility: 28 features
Lists
View our choice of games like Pawnbarian. This game is good if you want to:
Duration
Play Time: It takes between 15 minutes and half an hour to play a round of this game. A single run is complete after winning several increasingly difficult floors, culminating in a boss fight.
Play Style
This is a single-player game.
You can play this game in the following styles:
Age Ratings
Skill Rating
9+ year-olds usually have the required skill to enjoy this game.
Accessibility
Our Pawnbarian Accessibility Report documents 28 accessibility features:
For difficulty, the game starts quite tough and you can only scale up through the difficulty modifiers. There's no easy mode but you can make it harder.
Pawnbarian doesn't have a lot of text, but it is critical to read and understand the fairly complex board game rules.
You can play with tap or mouse controls (tap/click and hold required). The keyboard can be used instead to perform some of the same actions (selecting cards or "clicking" other main inputs). You can't currently access menus with the keyboard.
For difficulty, the game starts quite tough and you can only scale up through the difficulty modifiers. There's no easy mode but you can make it harder.
Pawnbarian doesn't have a lot of text, but it is critical to read and understand the fairly complex board game rules.
You can play with tap or mouse controls (tap/click and hold required). The keyboard can be used instead to perform some of the same actions (selecting cards or "clicking" other main inputs). You can't currently access menus with the keyboard.
Diversity and Inclusion
We haven't documented diversity and inclusion information for this game yet.

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