PlayGHQ Update 2026-01-08

Here are some of the latest updates that are now live on PlayGHQ!

🪂 Gameplay

(Note: The V2 Engine is enabled for local, bot, analysis, and now unrated online play)

• [V2 Engine] Armored pieces no longer move through bombardment (reverted from previous release)
• [V2 Engine] Added ability to drag-and-drop pieces from the reserve!
• [V2 Engine] Fixed various bugs with gameover states in unrated games.
• [V2 Engine] When your opponent skips without playing any moves, it's now more obvious that a draw will occur

PlayGHQ Update 2025-10-26

Here are some of the latest updates that are now live on PlayGHQ!

🪂 Gameplay

(Note: The V2 Engine is enabled for local, bot, analysis, and now unrated online play, see Matchmaking section below)

💨 [V2 Engine] Armored Pieces Behavior Change ❗

Armored pieces (infantry and artillery) can now move through bombarded squares. This is a significant change that should make armored pieces feel more impactful in the middle game, opens the door for many more tactical patterns, and gives players a bit more mobility when positions feel "locked" or cramped.

We've discussed this at length on discord, and may roll it back if it feels unfair or confusing. But as of now, we feel it still embodies the spirit of the game, stays true to Vonnegut's vision, and creates fun and interesting gameplay.

🗒️ [V2 Engine] Activity Log

The activity log in the sidebar has a much improved look and feel, and now includes the amount of time that each player spent on their turn.

The activity log also works during games, so you can go backwards some moves to review earlier parts of the game, even while it's still ongoing. This means you can even review your games versus bots!

🎮 [V2 Engine] Game Controls

The controls section has also been improved. Actions are named better, with shortcut keys more visible, and the "Skip" button turns into "Confirm" when you've made your moves.

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💫 [V2 Engine] Other Changes

• A trapped HQ that is actively being bombarded now counts as a win for the attacker. Previously, this was a draw due to the player having no moves.
• Fixed an issue that prevented armored artillery from moving to all allowable squares (see #276)
• Fixed an issue that prevented armored infantry from disengaging and re-engaging (see #277)

⚔️ Matchmaking

🆕 Unrated Game Mode

You can now queue for unrated matches (blitz, rapid, normandy, endgame) in addition to rated blitz/rapid. This allows players to play casual games without impacting their rating, which we are now using to playtest the V2 Game Engine.

🤖 Bot games

• The bot's intelligence has been significantly improved to not blunder pieces quite as easily
• Bot games now get a unique ID that allows you to refresh the game and continue where you left off

🗿 Notation

So far, we've used a form of FEN notation to describe a game's current state, for example:

3i4/4f1i1/1I1I3i/I1H↑2T↑IF/4R↑3/5I2/I7/5IQ1 - - b

Now, we're starting to incorporate a form of PGN notation to describe a game's entire move history, for example:

1. g2f1 g1g2↑ h1g1 {[%emt 6.1]}
2. c7d6 rff8 rfd8 {[%emt 21.4]}
3. rhh1 rre1 rrd1 {[%emt 4.7]}
4. rte8 rfg8 rhc8 {[%emt 8.1]}
...

This is still in its early stages, but we're hoping to make use of it more as time goes on!

PlayGHQ Update 2025-10-16

Here are some of the latest updates that are now live on PlayGHQ!

Matchmaking

• Player colors (red vs. blue) are now randomized when queueing in rapid or blitz games. Previously, the first person in the queue would always get red.

Gameplay

• Added a progress bar that more visually shows how many moves you've made this turn
• Reserve buttons and your pieces are now disabled when you've reached the move limit
• The "redo" button can now redo all undone moves, not just the most recent undo

(Note: v2 engine is still only enabled for local, bot, analysis, and puzzle play. It is not yet enabled for online/correspondence games)

PlayGHQ Update 2025-08-12

Here are some of the latest updates that are now live on PlayGHQ!

Gameplay

• Fixed mobile issues that could cause pieces to move to unintentional squares (#260)
• [v2] Fixed a bug that allowed for artillery to capture on deploy (#258)

(Note: v2 engine is still only enabled for local, bot, analysis, and puzzle play. It is not yet enabled for online/correspondence games)

Tutorials

• Added new content to explain artillery timing and special engagement rules.
• Tutorial experience now waits for the user's input before moving to next page

Contributors

• Thanks @cs502allen for their multiple contributions this release!

PlayGHQ Update 2025-08-04

Here are some of the latest updates that are now live on PlayGHQ!

Matchmaking

• More game modes are now visible on the homepage (blitz, normandy, endgame)
• Leaderboard and recent games are now visible without signing up for an account

Gameplay

• Local, puzzle, and analysis game modes no longer have a time limit

Contributors

• Thanks @cs502allen for their contributions this release!

PlayGHQ Update 2025-06-03

Here are some of the latest updates that are now live on PlayGHQ!

Matchmaking

• The "Play Daily" button now allows players to find a random player to match with for a correspondence game. Players are available for this type of matchmaking if they've played at least one correspondence game in the last 30 days. You won't be matched players with whom you already have an active correspondence match ongoing.
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• Players should now see a number in their browser tab title (e.g. (3)) indicating the number of ongoing correspondence games where it's their turn.
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Gameplay

• Draw by "double skip" -- If both players skip their turn without making a move, immediately after each other, the game ends in a draw (v2 engine only).
• Fixed issues with the v2 engine that caused the action counter to be incorrect and sometimes allowed a player to play moves for their opponent (#241 #242)
• Fixed an issue that caused players to only be allowed one start of turn capture.

(Note: v2 engine is still only enabled for local, bot, analysis, and puzzle play. It is not yet enabled for online/correspondence games)

Learn and Puzzles

• Puzzles that no longer work with the v2 engine have been disabled.
• Typos throughout the tutorial have been fixed.

Contributors

• Big thanks @cs502allen for their contributions in this release and comprehensive testing! 🎉

PlayGHQ Update 2025-05-20

Here are some of the latest updates that are now live on PlayGHQ!

Gameplay

• Upgraded Play Bot, Play Local, and Puzzles / Analysis to use the new V2 Game Engine
• Players are now able to select which free captures to take at the start of their turn
• Playing against the bot should now feel less laggy, as computation has been moved to a background thread.
• Stalemates (when a player has no legal moves) now result in a draw, instead of a win.
• The V2 Engine no longer enforces a one-move minimum during either player's turn.
• The evaluation bar now only reflects the relative sum of piece values of each player.
• Fixed a bug on mobile that could cause game sounds to override all phone audio (including music from other apps).

Matchmaking

• Correspondence challenges now expire automatically if they're not accepted within 14 days.

Sharing

• The "Share" dialog now has a PGN export for a full set of moves
• The "Share" dialog now lets you "Play bot from this position"

PlayGHQ Update 2025-05-13

Here are some of the latest updates that are now live on PlayGHQ!

Gameplay

• Captured pieces are now slightly less visible, to prevent them from looking like pieces that are still in play. (#222)

Editor

• Added the ability to place an HQ on the board in the editor. (#221)

Matchmaking

• Correspondence games are now sorted with "your turn" prioritized at the top of the list.
• Correspondence challenges that are more than 30 days old are now hidden by default, and you can click the Showing active button to toggle and see all challenges. In the future, you'll be able to cancel challenges or they will expire automatically.

PlayGHQ Update 2025-05-06

Here are some of the latest updates that are now live on PlayGHQ!

Gameplay

• Added Zones of Control! 🎉

  • This is a significant change that restricts the movement of infantry when they are already adjacent to an enemy infantry.
  • Zones of Control prevent players from "sneaking past" a solid defensive front, which was possible before.
  • See issue #181 and pull request #211 for more discussion
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• Disabled countdown timer in replays until it's more accurate.

Matchmaking

• Added game status to correspondence listing, so players can more easily see when it's your turn.

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• Fixed an issue where users in the matchmaking queue would flicker between "in queue" and "online" statuses on the homepage.

• Added normandy and endgame variant mode easter eggs if you look around closely 😉

• The Recent games section is now filterable by the current player's games

• Added a basic hover card to usernames so you can learn a bit more about that player

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• Added advanced settings for correspondence matchmaking (Play Friend) with custom board setup and rated/unrated games

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Analysis

• Added Board Editor to allow players to experiment and export different game positions. You can find this at the bottom of the "Rules and Puzzles" page.
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