A game like chess, but simpler

Two players, one board, everything in plain sight. There are no dice and no cards, so when you lose you were outplayed, and when you win you earned it. You plan a few moves ahead, read what your opponent is setting up and make them pay for their mistakes.

The online side will feel familiar too: casual and ranked games against real people, a rating that tracks your progress, a leaderboard, computer opponents and puzzles.

There's no check or checkmate, nothing is captured, and there are no openings to memorise. Games are short, too. Online, a game played to the finish typically takes about 3 minutes, and three in four are over within about 4. A bad game costs you a few minutes, then you play the next one.

Simple rules don't make a shallow game. In Barricade the depth comes from the walls:

• Shortest paths. Every wall changes the shortest route for both players, so you are always counting steps: yours and theirs.
• Timing. A wall costs you a turn. Block too early and your opponent walks around it; too late and the race is already lost.
• A limited supply. You get 10 walls for the whole game. Having walls left when your opponent has none is often what decides it.
• No sealing. You can never shut a player in completely, so the skill is in building long detours and dead ends, not cages.
• Endgames. Close games often turn on a single wall placed at the right moment.

The daily puzzle shows how much one turn can matter: a position from a real game where one precise move wins.

If you want a strategy game for two with less to learn than chess, these classics are all worth a try:

• Checkers (draughts): one kind of piece that moves diagonally and captures by jumping. Much simpler than chess and still deep, though between strong players many games end in a draw.
• Go: a handful of rules and one kind of stone, but a large 19×19 board and long games. Smaller boards make it quicker to start.
• Reversi: place discs to flip your opponent's. Easy to learn, and a game ends once the 8×8 board is full.
• Nine Men's Morris: an ancient game of making rows of three to remove your opponent's pieces, on a small board.
• Hex: connect your two sides of a diamond-shaped board. The rules fit in a sentence, and a game can never end in a draw.

Barricade sits among the quickest of these to learn and to play, and instead of capturing pieces, you build walls.

• Against the computer: four levels, so you can start easy and work up. Play the computer.
• Online, in real time: a casual game against someone new, or ranked when you're ready. Find a game.
• Today's puzzle: one position, one winning idea. Solve it.