Chivalware

Floppy Disks, Grid Combat, and a King Gone Mad

Solo developer Regal Pigeon Games, based in Hong Kong, brings a debut genre blend that few would have predicted: tile-matching mechanics fused with real-time grid combat, wrapped in a pixel art aesthetic that leans into the absurdity of its own premise. Publisher The Arcade Crew, the indie arm of Dotemu, backs the project for a PC release in autumn 2026.

The visual identity leans on a cyber-medieval collision: knights clad in digital armor, weapons fashioned from floppy disks, and a pixel art style that keeps the tone light without undercutting the mechanical depth underneath.

The Experience

You play as a Disk Knight sent to slay a king driven to madness by power and isolation. The battlefield is a grid where you match tiles in sets of three to charge weapons and abilities, all while dodging real-time enemy attacks in the same space. The loop asks for pattern recognition and quick reflexes simultaneously, which is a harder balance to pull off than it sounds.

Four distinct biomes and eight bosses structure each run, with permanent unlocks expanding your roster of Disk Knights and your arsenal across playthroughs. The roguelite layer rewards persistence without demanding perfection on the first attempt.

Who Should Play This

Chivalware launches on PC, with a free demo already available on Steam covering the first biome, the first boss, and an optional higher-difficulty mode for those who want an early stress test. Players drawn to roguelites with a mechanical hook beyond simple combat, think puzzle-action hybrids, will find the most to enjoy here. No prior series knowledge is required; this is a standalone debut.