Neon Chess
3D chess with five engine levels — three.js
Overview
A complete chess game on a glowing 3D board: full rules, a built-in chess engine with five levels (about 600 to 2200+), clocks, 3D and top-down views and two players on one device.
- Full chess rules: castling, en passant, promotion, check, mate, stalemate, repetition, 50-move rule
- Built-in engine with five levels, from about 600 to 2200+, running in a Web Worker
- Glowing 3D board with sculpted pieces, plus a crisp top-down 2D view
- Optional clocks (bullet, blitz, rapid), undo, hints, resign and draw
- Two players on one device with automatic board flip
- Move, capture, check and checkmate sounds and ambient music
- Touch, mouse and keyboard; all texts in one file for translation
- Self-hosted three.js — no CDN, no external requests
Requirements
- A browser with WebGL (all current desktop and mobile browsers); a 2D board is used otherwise
- Serve over http(s) — any static host or a local server (the engine runs in a Web Worker)
Technology: three.js r159 · WebGL · Web Worker · Web Audio · JavaScript.
Quick start
- Unzip the package.
- Upload the
game/folder to your web host, for example as/games/neon-chess/. - Open
https://your-site.com/games/neon-chess/index.html. No install, no database, no server code.
To try it on your computer first, start any local web server inside game/:
cd game
python3 -m http.server 8080
# then open http://localhost:8080/index.htmlBrowsers block some features (workers, 3D model files) for pages opened straight from disk, so always test through a web server.
How to play & controls
Tap or drag a piece to move it — legal squares light up. Pick your colour, a clock and 3D or top-down view in the game lobby. Undo, hints and draw/resign are in the side panel.
| Move a piece | Tap the piece, then the square · or drag it |
|---|---|
| Keyboard | Arrow keys + Enter to pick and drop · Esc to pause |
| Lobby | Colour, clock and 3D / top-down view before the game |
| Menu | Button in the bottom-left corner |
File structure
game/index.html | The page: start menu markup and the GAME_CONFIG settings (texts, difficulty levels, colours). |
|---|---|
game/host.js · game/host.css | The host: start menu, loading, countdown, pause on tab switch, result card. |
game/games/chess/game.js | The game itself: rules, computer opponent, rendering, input, sound. |
game/games/chess/rules.js | chess rules and engine (move generation, search, levels) |
game/games/chess/ai-worker.js | runs the engine in a Web Worker |
game/games/chess/clock.js | chess clock |
game/games/chess/copy.js | all on-screen texts (translate here) |
game/games/chess/assets/ | Models, textures and sound (32 files). |
game/vendor/ | three.js r159 and its loaders / post-processing (MIT). |
game/fonts/ | Inter and Unbounded fonts, self-hosted (OFL). |
documentation/index.html | This documentation. |
LICENSE.txt · THIRD-PARTY.txt · CHANGELOG.md | Licence terms, bundled components, version history. |
Configuration
The start menu is driven by window.GAME_CONFIG in game/index.html:
name, titleHtml, kicker, lead, howTo | Texts of the start menu (titleHtml may use <em> for the coloured word). |
|---|---|
levels | Difficulty buttons: [key, label, hint]. The keys are the computer levels the game knows: spark, pulse, circuit, cyber, singularity. |
defaultLevel | Level selected on the first visit (the player's last choice is remembered). |
hotseat | true = show the "2 Players · same device" button. |
players | Names used for the two players in two-player mode. |
backUrl (optional) | Adds a "← All games" link to the start menu, e.g. back to your games page. |
Colours: --acc and --acc2 in the <style> line of index.html; --menu-bg is the menu background picture.
Customise & rebrand
Gameplay settings live near the top of game/games/chess/game.js. Search for these names:
TIERS (rules.js) | Engine levels: search depth, time and mistakes per level. |
|---|---|
PST_SRC (rules.js) | Piece-square tables (engine style). |
copy.js | Every on-screen text. |
NAMES | Sound effect file names. |
assets/tex/ | Board, piece and sky textures. |
Art and sound
Replace files in game/games/chess/assets/ with your own, keeping the same file names and formats (WebP images, MP3 sound, GLB models).
Name and credit
Change the <title>, the meta description and the menu texts in index.html. The small "Made by Vortaxis Studio" credit may be kept or removed.
Embed in a page
<iframe src="/games/neon-chess/index.html" title="Neon Chess"
width="100%" height="680" allow="fullscreen; autoplay"
style="border:0;border-radius:16px"></iframe>Game portals (CrazyGames, Poki, itch.io and similar) accept the game/ folder as an HTML5 upload; add their SDK calls in host.js (start, result, pause).
FAQ
Does it need a server or database?
No. It is static HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Any web host works; it plays fully offline once loaded.
Is there online multiplayer?
Not out of the box: you play against the computer or with a friend on the same device. The game code accepts a multiplayer adapter (ctx.multiplayer: sendMove / onMove), so online play can be added with your own real-time server — we can quote it as custom work.
Can I change the art, colours and texts?
Yes. Texts and colours are in index.html, gameplay values near the top of game.js, and all pictures, models and sounds are plain files you can replace.
Does it work on phones?
Yes — touch, mouse and keyboard controls, portrait and landscape, high-DPI screens.
What is the difference between Licence and Full source?
Licence = one end product (yours or one client's). Full source = one production domain for you and your clients, including white-label, paid games and SaaS. Neither allows reselling the game or its source on its own.
Can I put it on game portals and show ads?
Yes, in your own end product. Add the portal or ad SDK calls in host.js.
Support & updates
Updates are free. Questions are answered for 6 months after purchase (12 months with Full source) — write to hello@vortaxis.com or use vortaxis.com/store. Need a custom version (your art, online play, leaderboards, a portal SDK)? Ask for a quote.