Zen Chess: Mate in Three

Minimalist chess puzzles built around checkmate in three moves

Minimol Games · Released Apr 30, 2019

Reviews: Very Positive; 82% of 62
Recent reviews: Not enough recent
Players: 0; daily peak, Oct 29, 2026
Steam Deck: Verified
Last update on Steam: 5 years ago; Jan 28, 2021
Minimum PC: DirectX 9 GPU; 2 GB RAM · 0.1 GB disk; Full requirements

What is Zen Chess: Mate in Three?

A single-player chess puzzle game where you work through set board positions, finding a sequence that forces checkmate in three moves. The board and pieces have a minimalist design, accompanied by an original soundtrack.

For you if...

+you enjoy thinking several moves ahead in tactical puzzles

Not for you if...

−you want full chess matches rather than preset problems

What players say

82% of 62 reviews are positive

Players praise the puzzle selection and simple visuals. The most common complaint is that moves outside the intended solution reset the board without showing why they fail, which some players say encourages trial and error.

Screenshots and trailer

Zen Chess: Mate in Three system requirements

Minimum: DirectX 9 GPU, 2 GB RAM, 0.1 GB of disk space.

As published by the developer.

Can my PC run Zen Chess: Mate in Three?

Tell us your graphics card once and every game page will answer this for you.

Set up my PC →

Minimum

OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8
Processor: 2 Ghz Dual Core
Graphics: Graphics card supporting DirectX 9.0c
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Storage: 100 MB available space
DirectX: Version 9.0c

Does Zen Chess: Mate in Three have co-op or multiplayer?

No: single-player only, no multiplayer modes declared.

Single-player

Does Zen Chess: Mate in Three run on Steam Deck?

Verified Yes, Verified by Valve: it works on Steam Deck out of the box.

All functionality is accessible with the default controller configuration
In-game text is legible on Steam Deck
Default graphics settings perform well on Steam Deck

PC version details

DRM: None declared on Steam
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Platforms: Windows, macOS
Achievements: 10
Steam features: Family Sharing
Languages: Text only: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese - Portugal, Portuguese - Brazil, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish - Latin America, Swedish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese.

Does Zen Chess: Mate in Three use AI-generated content?

No AI-generated content is disclosed on the game's Steam page.

Self-reported by the developer under Steam rules: it covers AI content that ships in the game, not tools used to make it. Steam page checked on Oct 28, 2026. How to filter AI games on Steam