Thresan: Skyflag, Chess Meets Capture the Flag in 3D

Par Nelson

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Thresan : Skyflag est un jeu de stratégie abstrait pour deux joueurs qui se déroule sur trois plateaux 6x6 empilés (Terran, Meridian, Empyrean) reliés par une colonne centrale appelée « Nexus ». Chaque joueur commande cinq pièces : un capitaine, deux soldats, un « Rover » et un pilote. Les soldats sont promus capitaines lorsqu’ils atteignent le rang le plus éloigné ; les rovers et les pilotes sont les moyens de transport du jeu, capables de déplacer des pièces d’un plateau à l’autre via le Nexus. L’objectif est de s’emparer du drapeau adverse, qui se trouve initialement sur le plateau Terran. Les ascenseurs ajoutent une dimension verticale à ce jeu de capture inspiré des échecs : les pièces peuvent être déplacées vers le haut ou vers le bas de la pile pour attaquer, défendre ou s'échapper. Avec 108 cases réparties sur trois plans, Skyflag explore un espace tactique et stratégique plus vaste qu’un simple plateau 8x8 tout en conservant un jeu de pièces compact. Skyflag est une variante du système de jeu plus vaste appelé « Thresan » ; le jeu sous-jacent tire ses origines de l’Ashtapada, l’ancien jeu indien de 8x8 qui a également donné naissance aux échecs. —description de l’éditeur

Présentation de la campagne

Two ways to win. One piece that matters.

Most strategy games give you a single path to victory. Thresan: Skyflag gives you two, and forces you to threaten both at once.

You can win like a chess player: hunt down your opponent's Captain and the Soldier who could replace them, until no piece on their side can ever reach the top. The contest is over.

Or you can win like a raider: send your Captain climbing through three stacked battlefields, seize all three of your opponent's flags, and plant your Captain on the Nexus at the summit.

Every turn, you're deciding how far to send your Captain toward the top, and how hard to hunt theirs. That tension is the whole game.

Conceptual gameboard.

A board you play up, not just across

Three 6×6 boards, Ground, Sky, and Space, stacked into one arena of 108 squares. Pieces don't just move across a layer; they climb between them through four fixed Lifts. And climbing is never free: a piece sitting in the square above can deny the ascent without lifting a weapon.

Where you stand in the stack changes what you threaten and what threatens you. Hold the Lifts, and you hold the game.

Conceptual part list

A small, sharp roster a side: a Captain, a Soldier who can rise to become a Captain (the fifth piece), a Rover, and a Pilot. Five pieces in total. No dice, no cards, no hidden information. The only unknown is the mind across the table.

A 3D chess game for two players based on the games of chess and capture the flag.

The two paths, in detail

The checkmate win. Your Captain is your only road to the summit, and your Soldier is the only piece that can become a Captain. Strip your opponent of both, no Captain on the board, none in reserve, no Soldier that could still rise, and they have nothing left that can ever win. This is Thresan's equivalent of checkmate. And here's the twist: any of your pieces can make those captures. You don't need your Captain to do the hunting.

The Ascent win. Send your Captain to capture all three of your opponent's flags, one waiting on each level, in any order, then land on the Nexus at the very top. Flags first, Nexus last. Only a Captain, original or promoted, can do it.

Two paths, one linchpin. Your Captain is your sharpest blade and your only road to the top. Defend it like the game depends on it, because it does.

A game with a world behind it

Thresan: Skyflag is set in Kaleo, a civilization the ancient Aetheri lifted into a three-layer arcology when the world below gave way to salt and dust. Two clans contest it: the Grey Ravens, who believe survival is the work of patience and memory, and the White Stags, who believe a path unused becomes a monument to refusal. Both are right. Neither is complete.

Every match restages their oldest argument: the raid for the rival's three claim-seals and the Nexus's answer.

You play 5 pieces (4 + the soldier that promotes to a 2nd captain), driven by strategy.

Why I built this

I'm Nelson Jatel. By day, I'm a water scientist with a doctorate in Social Science, specializing in social network analysis. Having grown up in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, I always played board games with my two brothers during the holidays.

Thresan started over a glass of wine, discussing the history of chess, and the potential for an evolved game. I wanted a strategy game that played in three dimensions without becoming a math exam, where the third dimension was the game, not a gimmick. It took thousands of simulated runs, building, breaking, and re-cutting boards to get the geometry to work.

The 6×6×3 architecture is original, but the bones are ancient: Thresan descends from Ashtapada, the eight-footed race game that gave the world chess. I wanted to add one true branch to that family tree.

Thresan isn't just a game; it is a free online virtual ecosystem (www.playskyflag.com) and a new world to explore.

What you're backing

We're offering three ways to own Thresan: Skyflag:

The Standard Edition, the full game in durable, table-ready components.
The Premium / Collector Edition, upgraded materials and a display-grade build for the shelf.
The Maker Files, print-it-yourself digital files for the 3D-printing community.

Coming at launch.

Join us before launch

Hit Notify me on launch to be first in when we go live. Early backers will have access to launch-day rewards, and following now genuinely helps: it tells Kickstarter to show Thresan to more players.