2016Andrew Looney, John Cooper, Kristin Looney
- Videos
- 41
- Creators
- 13
1 - 10 players5 - 180 minMedium weight

1995Andrew Looney
From BoardGameGeek
Martian Chess is a 2-4 player game that uses Icehouse pieces, requiring one stash per player, and a chessboard. It was one of the games included in Icehouse: The Martian Chess Set and Pyramid Arcade. Much like its namesake, Martian Chess is a game of capturing pieces. Like Chess, Martian Chess is turn based, and played on a chessboard. In both games, players move and capture individual pieces, and each type of piece has distinct moving rules. However, Martian Chess differs from Chess in critical ways: Piece ownership is determined not by color but by location. Instead of capturing a specific piece, winning is determined by points, making it possible to force the end of the game and still win with no pieces left in that player's control. Lastly, Martian Chess easily supports 4 players as well as two, and can also be played with 3, 5 or 6 players if you use geomorphic chessboard sections; see this photo for an example.
Martian Chess has 3 videos from 3 creators: 1 review and 2 how-to-play guides. They date from 2022 to August 2026.
To learn the rules, start with "Martian Chess is Out of This World" by Riffle Shuffle & Roll, which runs 6 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Martian Chess Review: Not Of This World" by The Dice Tower.
If you like it, try Pyramid Arcade, Fluxx, Fluxx: The Board Game and Star Trek Chrono-Trek, also by Andrew Looney.
2016Andrew Looney, John Cooper, Kristin Looney
1 - 10 players5 - 180 minMedium weight
1997Andrew Looney, Kristin Looney
2 - 6 players5 - 30 minLight weight
2013Andrew Looney
2 - 4 players30 minLight weight
2019Andrew Looney
2 - 6 players15 - 45 minMedium weight
From BoardGameGeek:
Martian Chess is a 2-4 player game that uses Icehouse pieces, requiring one stash per player, and a chessboard. It was one of the games included in Icehouse: The Martian Chess Set and Pyramid Arcade. Much like its namesake, Martian Chess is a game of capturing pieces. Like Chess, Martian Chess is turn based, and played on a chessboard. In both games, players move and capture individual pieces, and each type of piece has distinct moving rules. However, Martian Chess differs from Chess in critical ways: Piece ownership is determined not by color but by location. Instead of capturing a specific piece, winning is determined by points, making it possible to force the end of the game and still win with no pieces left in that player's control. Lastly, Martian Chess easily supports 4 players as well as two, and can also be played with 3, 5 or 6 players if you use geomorphic chessboard sections; see this photo for an example.
Designer
Andrew Looney
Artists
Andrew Looney, Eileen Tjan
Publisher
Looney Labs
Categories
Mechanics