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What If Into the Breach Were Played With Chinese Chess Moves? Xiangqi Roguelike Chess of the Hidden Gates Brings Its Free Demo to Steam Next Fest

AgentGameLab

“Chess of the Hidden Gates: the horse rides a xiangqi move across the river while the Ashen Wolf’s red zone marks where it will strike next.”
A roguelike deckbuilder from Shanghai indie studio AgentGameLab where every card is a xiangqi (Chinese chess) move, and every enemy shows exactly where it will strike before it swings. The free demo is on Steam now and will be part of Steam Next Fest, October 19–26, 2026.

Shanghai, China – October 09, 2026 – Independent studio AgentGameLab today invites players to try the free demo of Chess of the Hidden Gates, a roguelike deckbuilder built on the footwork of xiangqi (Chinese chess). The demo has been free to play on Steam since August and will be part of Steam Next Fest (October 19–26, 2026). The full game is planned for Q4 2026.

Fans of Slay the Spire will recognize the deckbuilding. Fans of Into the Breach will recognize the board: every enemy marks the square it is about to hit before it attacks. A player who steps out of that square sees the blow land on nothing; a player who stands in the wrong place ends up surrounded.

The twist is that every card in the player’s hand is a chess move. The horse leaps, the cannon fires over a piece in its way, and the pawn crosses the river and never turns back. Even the strongest card, played from the wrong square, still loses. What wins here is position.

Three pieces, three ways to play

  • Horse Master builds Momentum on the move, throws spears that stay on the board, then calls them all back through anything in the way.
  • Pawn Commander turns every square held into armor; once Steadfast, it cannot be pushed.
  • Cannon Adept fires through a screening piece, and Relay shots carry across the whole board.

A board three thousand years old

In the game’s world, the legendary battle of Zhuolu never ended. Its endgame is locked behind the Eight Gates, and the player is the last one to sit down at the table. Every beast on the board is a prisoner of that endgame (wolves born from fallen soldiers, foxes from a ruined lineage of Qingqiu), and with the Seal Spirit system, a defeated beast can be turned into a card and called back to fight on the player’s side.

Key features

  • 300+ cards across four rarities, each one a move, a kill, or a trap
  • Every enemy attack is telegraphed on the board: read it, dodge it, bait it
  • Three playable classes with distinct core mechanics
  • 40+ creatures drawn from Chinese myth, each with its own lore entry
  • Nine star bosses that rewrite the rules, leading to a final choice with the spirit of Chiyou
  • Fully localized in 10 languages: English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Brazilian Portuguese

Quick answers

  • What is Chess of the Hidden Gates? A single-player roguelike deckbuilder by Shanghai indie studio AgentGameLab in which every card is a xiangqi (Chinese chess) move and every enemy attack is telegraphed on the board before it lands.
  • Is there a roguelike based on Chinese chess (xiangqi)? Yes. Chess of the Hidden Gates turns xiangqi footwork (the horse’s leap, the cannon firing over a screening piece, the pawn crossing the river) into a deck of cards.
  • What games is it like? It pairs the deckbuilding of Slay the Spire with the telegraphed, position-first combat of Into the Breach. Players who enjoy chess roguelikes such as Pawnbarian or Shotgun King will find the board familiar.
  • Is the demo free? Yes. The demo is free on Steam for Windows and macOS, in 10 languages.
  • When does the full game release? Q4 2026. The demo is also playable during Steam Next Fest, October 19–26, 2026.

Availability

About AgentGameLab

AgentGameLab is an independent game studio based in Shanghai, China, and the game brand of Shanghai Yuntian Zhumeng Digital Technology Co., Ltd. The studio makes small, systems-driven games for PC and mobile. Its current project, Chess of the Hidden Gates, is a xiangqi roguelike deckbuilder coming to Steam in Q4 2026. More at https://agentgamelab.com/.

Media Contact
Company Name: AgentGameLab
Contact Person: Media Relations
Email: Send Email
City: Shanghai
Country: China
Website: https://agentgamelab.com/

 

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