Chess champion inspires video game

NORWEGIAN chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen has inspired a video game developed in Durban.

Henk Scheepers, a Game Development lecturer at Vega, has released a prototype of a tactical, chess-inspired indie game titled Magnus, in honour of the world’s leading chess player.

It’s Scheepers’ second solo indie project. He began developing Magnus two months ago and says it is still in the early stages of development.

“I try to stay true to the fundamentals of chess, where you're trying to be strategic, think a few moves ahead, and be tactical, but I'm trying to do my own take on it,” he said.

Scheepers said his inspiration came from Balatro, last year’s multi-award winning game of the year, which was based on poker.

“It’s a genre called roguelike, but it’s also based on chess. I want to appeal to people who like roguelikes, but also those who like chess. Roguelikes are essentially games where if you fail once, it’s game over; you lose all progress, but you gain knowledge. So each time you play, you get a bit further using what you’ve learned.”

Unlike his previous projects, which he created for fun without thinking about market trends, Magnus was designed with both creative passion and commercial appeal in mind.

“Roguelikes are quite popular right now, and I wanted to develop something that would sell.”

Ironically, Scheepers admits that other players are outperforming him in his own game.

“The game includes elements of randomisation, so with every round, the upgrades and choices you get change. You're always trying to get the perfect run. One of my students, who’s really excited about the game, reached level 70,  that’s the highest I know of. I’ve only made it to level 42, so there are definitely people playing it better than I can.”

Scheepers’ love for gaming began at the age of seven when his step-brother introduced him to a Nintendo TV game. He later discovered programming in high school and swapped his goal of becoming a chartered accountant for a path in computer studies.

It took years before he began developing his own game and now encourages aspiring developers to start early.

“The big thing is: don’t wait for inspiration to hit. If you have an idea, start making it. Be honest with yourself. If it’s not fun, try something else. The best way to learn is just by making games.”

He says over the years he has worked on many gaming ideas which were parked, but eventually helped him in other ways. 

“You create a new game or you start with a new idea and you realise that you can borrow something from a previous idea that actually fits in here. That's how I made my previous game. It was actually part of a game that evolved over probably five years. I had the initial concept and it sort of evolved.”

He describes the gaming industry as an exciting space that brings together a range of disciplines; from programming and 3D modelling to art, to narrative design and sound.

Scheepers has submitted Magnus to Cape Town’s Playtopia festival, taking place in December. His first solo game, AVOID, was also showcased at the same event.

Passionate about growing Durban’s indie gaming scene, Scheepers co-founded D3 (Durban Design and Developers),  a monthly meetup hosted at Vega that brings together local developers, artists, and programmers to collaborate and share ideas.