Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

HiddenLynx’s first few turns have the satisfying friction of learning a real board game rather than wrestling with videogame systems. You are moving red pieces across a 9-by-10 battlefield, trying to penetrate the black side’s territory and capture its General, while the computer pursues exactly the same goal. If you already know Xiangqi, that directness is the point: sit down, study the board, and play.

Newcomers have a sensible on-ramp. The included short manual covers the basic rules, and the optional move display can show where a selected piece is allowed to go. That does not make Xiangqi shallow, but it removes the most irritating early hurdle: forgetting how a piece moves and losing a turn of thought to rule-checking. Start with the hints on, then switch them off once the piece movement begins to stick.

Difficulty settings give the computer opponent some range, while undo and redo buttons let you test an idea without treating every mistake as fatal. That is particularly welcome in a game where a careless placement can open a route into your own territory. The limitation is equally clear: every match is solo against the computer. HiddenLynx is for quiet practice sessions, not for competing with friends.

Graphics

The board is built around the familiar Xiangqi battlefield grid, with red and black armies facing one another across it. Its top-down view keeps the important information in front of you: piece positions, open lines, and the distance between either side and the opposing General.

Story

HiddenLynx does not try to wrap Xiangqi in a campaign tale. Its drama comes from the old battlefield metaphor built into the game: two armies advance, defend territory, and hunt the opposing General.

That abstraction is a strength here. A tense position can feel like a small military standoff simply because each placement changes the routes across the board, not because the game stops to explain why the armies are fighting.

If you want characters or a plotted reason to keep playing, this will feel bare. If the rivalry of red versus black and the slow construction of a winning position is enough, the board itself supplies the stakes.

Overall Experience

HiddenLynx is a modest but considerate Xiangqi program. It focuses on the part that matters—playing Chinese chess against a computer—and includes just enough help to make the rules approachable without crowding the board game itself.

The payoff depends on your appetite for Xiangqi’s deliberate, turn-by-turn puzzles. It is easy to enjoy a short match, but it is also easy to hit frustration when the computer exposes a plan you did not see. The undo function softens that sting and makes losses feel instructional rather than wasted.

Give it a chance if you want a free, straightforward way to learn or revisit Chinese chess alone. Skip it if multiplayer is essential, but for solo games and practice, HiddenLynx’s focused design is more useful than flashy.

Retro Replay Score

7/10