tCheckers

The terminal-native checkers match that keeps strategy breaks one command away.

🚀 What is tCheckers?

tCheckers started as a weekend experiment to learn more about Ink and has grown into a polished, color-rich checkers experience that lives entirely in your terminal. It lets you spin up one-off games, swap between friendly head-to-head matches, and even practice against a CPU that makes quick, legal moves.

✨ Key Capabilities

🕹️ Core Gameplay

Full 8×8 checkers board rendered with ASCII pieces and coordinate labels.
Smooth keyboard-driven flow: pick a piece with algebraic input (e.g., E3) and confirm the destination with Enter.
Real-time move validation with clear guidance when a move is blocked or a capture is available.

🤖 Solo Practice

Built-in AI opponent that evaluates valid moves each turn and makes fast, legal responses.
Configurable delay to mimic thoughtful play so turns still feel human-paced.

🤝 Multiplayer & Flow

Single-terminal multiplayer mode with a navigable main menu for quick session setup.
In-game move history panel so both players stay aligned on captures and swings.
Scoreboard and turn indicator keep momentum without breaking focus.

🌈 Game Feel & Feedback

Gradient title art and color-coded tokens to make the CLI feel lively.
Success and error messaging that celebrates captures and flags bad input before a move lands.
Escape hatch (Esc) to cancel selections and reset without leaving the board.

🎯 Perfect For

Developers who want a quick strategic reset between builds without leaving the shell.
Terminal enthusiasts exploring what React + Ink can do beyond dashboards.
Educators demonstrating turn-based state management in a compact TypeScript project.

⚡ Quick Start

Play instantly

Bash

npx tcheckers

npx tcheckers

Run locally for hacking

Bash

git clone https://github.com/gfargo/tcheckers.git
cd tcheckers
yarn install
yarn build && yarn start

git clone https://github.com/gfargo/tcheckers.git
cd tcheckers
yarn install
yarn build && yarn start

🔧 Technology Stack

React + Ink UI rendered directly in the terminal.
TypeScript-first architecture with shared contexts for game and screen state.
Meow-powered CLI entry point, bundled via TypeScript tsc.
Automated checks with Prettier, XO, and AVA snapshot tests.

🔗 Links

GitHub: https://github.com/gfargo/tcheckers
npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/tcheckers
Issue tracker: https://github.com/gfargo/tcheckers/issues

Take tCheckers for a spin the next time you need a tactical timeout between commits.

Published on February 22, 2025