Chess first. Then the relics.
Play Sigilmate — free, in your browser
Sigilmate is a free chess game for your browser, built in two layers. The first is chess, complete and strict: castling, en passant, promotion, check, checkmate, stalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule and insufficient material, all enforced, with five AI opponents from beginner to strong, optional clocks, takebacks for practice, move-by-move review and PGN export. The second is Relics, a variant where each side drafts two of six relics in the open before the game and spends them during it: the Hourglass of Resolve lets you pass a turn, the Aegis Sigil makes one of your pieces impossible to capture for a turn, the Bastion Mark seals a square beside your king, the Prism of Insight lets a bishop move like a rook for one move, the Crown of Command swaps two of your pieces, and the Wayfinder’s Compass lets your king leap like a knight. No relic can be used while you are in check or leave your own king in check, so checkmate is still checkmate. Around those sit Conquest, a seven-chamber solo campaign against opponents with their own styles and disclosed relics, starting with a two-minute lesson; a Daily Trial, one forced mate a day that is the same for everyone and goes on a daily leaderboard; private online matches with a link, where a server checks every move and keeps the clocks; and two-player games on one screen.
Choose a mode on the title screen. Classic is chess against the AI at one of five levels — Squire, Sentinel, Warden, Marshal and Regent — with an optional clock. Relics adds the relic draft. Conquest is the campaign, the Daily Trial is one mate to find a day, Play a friend makes a private online match, and Same device is two people on one screen.
To move, tap or click one of your pieces: dots show the empty squares it can reach and rings show the pieces it can take. Then tap the square. Dragging works too. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move around the board and Enter picks up and puts down. A pawn reaching the last rank asks what it becomes.
Every chess rule is enforced, including the ones casual games skip. Castling is not allowed out of, through or into check. En passant is only possible on the very next move. A game is drawn by stalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule (fifty moves each with no capture and no pawn move), insufficient material, agreement, or a flag against a side whose opponent has no way to mate.
In a Relics game the draft comes first: Black picks a relic, White picks two, Black takes the last, all in the open, and a relic belongs to one side only. During the game your relics sit beside your name with their charges. Tap one to arm it, and the board shows exactly what it can do this turn. Using one is part of your move, and at most one relic can be used per turn.
The six relics: the Hourglass of Resolve passes your turn (one charge). The Aegis Sigil wards one of your pieces after your move so it cannot be captured on your opponent’s next turn (one charge). The Bastion Mark seals an empty square next to your king so nothing can land on it for a turn (two charges). The Prism of Insight moves a bishop as a rook or a rook as a bishop, once, to an empty square — it never captures, but it is the only way a bishop can change the colour of its squares. The Crown of Command swaps two of your touching pieces instead of moving. The Wayfinder’s Compass lets your king jump like a knight to a safe, empty square.
Three rules keep Relics honest. No relic can be used while you are in check, so checkmate and stalemate are exactly what they are in chess. No relic can leave your own king in check. And every lasting effect only takes options away from your opponent and ends when they move.
Conquest opens with a short lesson and then seven opponents, each with a disclosed personality, sometimes relics of their own, and optional objectives such as winning without losing your queen. Wins unlock new relics for your campaign draft plus piece finishes, board finishes and banners. Nothing you unlock makes you stronger in a fair game.
The Daily Trial is a forced mate in two or three, the same for everyone and changing at midnight UTC. Every move of the solution is the only move that works. You have three tries and two hints, and your first solve each day is ranked on the daily leaderboard.
Sigilmate is a free chess game that runs in your browser. You can play ordinary chess against five AI levels or a friend, or play Relics, a variant where each side drafts two magical relics before the game. It also has a seven-opponent campaign called Conquest and a Daily Trial mate puzzle.
Yes. There is no download, no account and nothing to buy. Online matches with a friend need only a link.
Yes: castling restrictions, en passant on the very next move only, promotion to any piece, check, checkmate and stalemate, plus threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule and insufficient material. The rules engine is tested against the standard published move-generation counts, and the AI and the online server both use the same rules.
Before a Relics game, each side drafts two of six relics in the open: Black picks first, White picks two, and Black takes the last. During the game you can use one relic per turn as part of your move. Relics can pass a turn, protect a piece from capture for a turn, seal a square beside your king, let a bishop move like a rook once without capturing, swap two of your pieces, or let your king leap like a knight.
No. No relic can be used while your king is in check, and no relic can ever leave your own king in check. A position with no legal chess move is checkmate or stalemate before relics are considered, exactly as in chess.
There are five levels. Squire and Sentinel make deliberate mistakes and suit beginners, Warden plays like a solid club player, and Marshal and Regent search deeply and do not give anything away. The level changes how far and how well the AI thinks, never the rules. The AI thinks in the background so the page stays responsive.
Choose Play a friend, pick Classic or Relics, a colour and a clock, and send the link. The game starts when your friend opens it. A server checks every move and keeps the clocks, and if you lose your connection your seat is held and the link brings you back.
One forced checkmate in two or three moves a day, the same for every player, changing at midnight UTC. Each move of the solution is the only move that works. You get three tries and up to two hints, and your first solve each day goes on the daily leaderboard.
Yes, against the AI and in games on one screen. Takebacks are not available in Conquest, the Daily Trial or online matches.
Classic games can be copied as standard PGN for any chess program. Relics games use moves no other program understands, so they are copied as a game record instead.
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