This Kingdom Hearts 3 chess set costs $700 and doesn't actually play chess

Kingdom Hearts 3 chess set
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Kingdom Hearts 3 developer Square Enix is offering players a replica chess set for $700, and the only problem is that you can’t actually play a game of chess on it. 

Inspired by the young Xehanort and Eraqus scenes in Kingdom Hearts 3, the Alba and Ater set is available on the US Square Enix store for $699.99. Although visually striking and a must-have for truly devoted Kingdom Hearts fans, the 'chess' set is merely a decorative piece, and you can't actually use it to play a real game of chess.   

Just like in Kingdom Hearts 3, the set comes with several intricately detailed chess pieces, 16 light and 16 dark - all of which represent a character in the Kingdom Hearts series including Sora, Kairi, Riku, as well as series enemies Xehanort, Ansem, Xemnas, and more. A quick glance from a chess professional would be able to tell that this is not appropriate to play on, but just in case, Square Enix also states on the website that: "This is not a game. No rules are included."

Kingdom Hearts fans are currently living their best lives after it was revealed that main protagonist Sora would be joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a sword fighter. Nintendo and Kingdom Hearts fans alike thought it would be almost impossible to get Sora into the fighting game considering Disney also holds the rights to the Square Enix property. Even Smash series creator Masahiro Sakurai said he had little hope for the crossover until he had a chance encounter with a Disney representative at an award show. 

Fancy giving the Square Enix x Disney crossover game a go? Good news, the complete Kingdom Hearts series is now available on the Nintendo Switch via cloud versions. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

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