Khet: Bringing chess into the 21st century

Chess is so old school. You know what it’s missing? Lasers . The board game Khet (née Deflexion) remedies that lack by moving the game from a medieval European pasttime to a futuristic Egyptian-themed romp. Instead of keeping your king safe, now you have to protect your Pharaoh, and not from would-be assassins in the form of pawns, queens and, er, castles, but from a deadly laser.

You see, each of the four pieces (pharaoh, obelisk, sphinx and djed column) have one, two, or no mirrored surfaces. Each turn you can move a piece one space in any direction, or alternatively rotate the piece one quarter twist. Then, at the end of the turn, you fire one of the built-in lasers—if your beam hits your opponent’s pharaoh, you win. The twist? If you’re clever, you can use your opponent’s mirrors against them.

Now, I’m terrible at chess. Absolutely awful. Despite the fact that I learned to play the game well over fifteen years ago, I think I’ve won maybe twice. Ever. Still…I really love lasers. You could sell me pretty much anything with a laser in it.

[via Gizmos for Geeks ]