About
Round Online
Round Online is the independent studio behind 3Chess — a three-player hex chess game built from a formal axiom system. We make games where the design holds together because the rules do.
What we do
Round Online builds chess and chess-adjacent games whose mechanics are derived from explicit axioms instead of trial-and-error iteration. The starting question is always "what is the smallest set of rules that makes this game work?" The answer becomes a formal system; the game is what the system permits.
Most games are tuned. Ours are proved.
3Chess
3Chess is the studio's first project: three-player chess on a 127-cell hexagonal board with three 120°-rotationally-symmetric territories. It addresses the kingmaker problem — the structural flaw that has prevented earlier three-player chess variants from feeling fair — through three mechanics derived from the axiom set: cascading checkmate, territory scoring, and the 20-move rule.
The game is playable as a free browser demo and as a paid desktop build for $9.99. See Learn for the full ruleset and design notes.
Studio
Round Online was founded in 2024 to publish 3Chess. The studio publishes its broader catalog, axiom indexes, and field notes at round.online — that's the place for the studio's wider thinking; this page stays focused on 3Chess.
Studio facts
- Studio
- Round Online
- Founded
- 2024
- First title
- 3Chess (2026)
- Platforms
- Web (free demo) · Windows desktop · macOS & Linux demo · Steam (coming)
- Distribution
- itch.io · direct sale at 3chess.online/buy
- Studio site
- round.online
- Press
- Press kit
- Studio contact
- hello@round.online
- 3Chess contact
- 3chess@round.online
Connect
Studio inquiries: hello@round.online. Anything 3Chess-specific (press, bugs, dispute, support): 3chess@round.online. Follow updates on Instagram, Threads, YouTube, or X. Or just open the board.
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