Sweep Chess - Reddit Game

Mobile-first design/development
Great support for desktop
Level creator for the community

Inspiration

The idea started over lunch when we wondered, “What if we made a twist on chess?” We wanted something familiar enough that anyone could jump in, but different enough to get people talking about smarter strategies and better ways to solve the board.

What it does

Sweep Chess is an optimization puzzle where chess pieces wipe entire lines and the goal is to clear the board in as few moves as possible.

Each day, 24 enemy pawns are placed on the board using the Reddit post date as a seed, so everyone plays the exact same challenge. Players only have four pieces to work with: a queen, rook, bishop, and knight. Pawns don’t block movement, so a single move can wipe out an entire row, column, or diagonal.

Players can replay the daily board as many times as they want and compete on a post's leaderboard for the best solution.

How we built it

The game was built in GameMaker and exported to HTML5. It runs directly inside Reddit using Devvit WebViews.

Devvit handles daily post creation, user identity, and server-side logic. We use Redis to store scores and leaderboards, keeping only each player’s best result for the day. Because the board is generated from a deterministic seed, every player is solving the same puzzle.

We also built a custom level creator that lets users design their own boards. Publishing a level automatically creates a playable Reddit post for that challenge.

Challenges we ran into

Even though Sweep Chess is a simple game, designing it in a way that felt intuitive without relying on complex rules was a challenge. This was also our first time working with Devvit, so figuring out how to create daily posts, handle user identity, and integrate the game took some trial and error. At the same time, we had to learn GameMaker best practices and figure out how to connect it properly with Devvit. One of the biggest technical challenges was handling resolution and device differences, since Devvit runs on many screen sizes. We ended up creating our own solution to make sure the game looked and played correctly across all devices.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We built a complete, polished game in roughly six days, from concept to a fully playable Reddit experience. We’re especially proud of how approachable the game feels despite being a completely different experience from traditional chess. Building the game mobile-first was a big win, since most Reddit users play on their phones, and making sure it felt good on any device took real effort. We’re also proud of the custom level creator, which lets users design their own puzzles and instantly turn them into playable Reddit posts, helping the community create content for itself.

What we learned

We learned that stripping a familiar game down to its core mechanics can open the door to something entirely new. By keeping chess movement rules but removing everything else, we discovered how quickly it turns into an optimization puzzle instead of a strategy duel. On the technical side, we learned how Devvit works, how to think in terms of Reddit posts as game containers, and how important mobile-first design is when building for a platform with wildly different devices. We also gained a much better understanding of GameMaker’s strengths and limitations, especially when it comes to resolution handling and cross-device support.

What's next for Sweep Chess

Our next step is to officially release Sweep Chess on Reddit and see how the community responds. The goal is to support it long term if people enjoy the daily challenges and the competitive aspect. We want to lean into the community side by encouraging discussion around strategies, optimal solutions, and creative custom levels. Over time, we’d like to add lightweight progression features such as daily streaks, a simple credit system, and more visual customization, without turning the game into something complicated. The focus will stay on keeping the experience simple, fair, and fun while giving players more reasons to come back each day.