Games like chess, but easier to learn
Chess is brilliant, but it takes years to get comfortable with. If you enjoy thinking ahead, reading your opponent and winning without luck, these abstract strategy games give you the same feeling with rules you can learn in a few minutes.
1. Quoridor
A race across a 9×9 board where you can place walls to slow your opponent. There is one piece per player and two possible actions per turn, yet planning wall timing is as tense as any chess endgame. It works for two or four players. You can play it free online in WallRush Pro.
2. Checkers (draughts)
The classic choice for chess fans who want a lighter game. Captures are forced and every piece moves the same way, so tactics come quickly. International draughts on a 10×10 board adds a lot of depth.
3. Go
Very simple rules, enormous depth. Players place stones to surround territory. A 9×9 board makes for short games and is the best way to start.
4. Hex
Connect your two sides of a diamond-shaped board before your opponent connects theirs. There are no draws, and the strategy around blocking is quite similar to Quoridor.
5. Hive
A board-less game with insect tiles, each moving like a different chess piece. The goal is to surround the opposing queen bee, which feels a lot like checkmate.
6. Santorini
Move your builders and raise towers. Climb to the third level to win, and build domes to stop your opponent. It is quick and very visual.
7. Onitama
A small 5×5 martial-arts game in which shared move cards change hands every turn. It is often described as “chess in fifteen minutes”.
Which one should you try first?
If you want something you can play online right away with no sign-up, start with Quoridor. Games last 5–15 minutes, there is a ranked mode for competitive players, and you can practise against four AI levels before facing real people.