Zen Chess: Mate in One

Minimalist chess puzzles where a single move must give checkmate

Minimol Games · Released Apr 10, 2018

Reviews: Very Positive; 89% of 442
Recent reviews: Not enough recent
Players: 0; daily peak, Oct 29, 2026
Steam Deck: Verified
Last update on Steam: 2 years ago; Sep 20, 2024
Minimum PC: DirectX 9 GPU; 2 GB RAM · 0.1 GB disk; Full requirements

What is Zen Chess: Mate in One?

A single-player chess puzzle game with 300 positions chosen by a chess grandmaster. You solve each position by finding a move that immediately checkmates the opposing king.

For you if...

+you want to practice recognizing basic checkmate patterns

Not for you if...

−you want difficult problems requiring several moves of planning

What players say

89% of 442 reviews are positive

Players praise the low price and relaxed puzzle-solving. Some complain that the music is too loud.

Screenshots and trailer

Zen Chess: Mate in One 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 One?

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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 One have co-op or multiplayer?

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

Single-player

Does Zen Chess: Mate in One 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: 30
Steam features: Family Sharing
Languages: Full audio: English. Text only: 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 One 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 27, 2026. How to filter AI games on Steam