The Titanium Chess Set That’s Also the Best EDC Object We’ve Seen

Chess has had a genuine cultural resurgence lately, finding its way into cafés, offices, and living rooms that wouldn’t have bothered with it a decade ago. But for all the renewed enthusiasm, the portable chess set hasn’t really evolved. Most options are flimsy plastic affairs that feel like an afterthought, with the same old problem of pieces scattering the moment you set the bag down.

BESIDAR’s Victory approaches the problem differently, treating the portable chessboard as an engineering challenge rather than a sizing exercise. It’s built entirely from titanium, uses a mechanical folding structure that collapses the board into something genuinely pocketable, and relies on magnets to keep all 64 pieces organized and secure. It also happens to support several other games on the same set of pieces, which we’ll get to.

Designer: BESIDAR

Click Here to Buy Now: $69 $130 (50% off). Hurry, 128/1000 left! Raised over $111,000.

The defining feature is the board itself. Victory’s playing surface consists of multiple hinged titanium panels that interlock mechanically, letting you fold and unfold them endlessly without resistance or wear. It sounds like a gimmick until you have it in your hands, because the action is satisfying in the way a good infinity cube is. You’ll end up folding it between moves or absentmindedly during a thinking pause.

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All 64 pieces attach magnetically to the board’s surface, staying in place during play and holding firm when the board is folded for transport. The two board halves also connect to each other magnetically, so the whole set becomes one compact, integrated unit. There’s nothing loose rattling around, no separate case to hunt for, and no tedious piece-sorting ritual before you can sit down and actually start playing.

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The two-sided pieces also give the set a wider range of use than expected. One face carries a surface pattern while the other is a solid contrasting color, and that choice alone supports chess, Go, Gomoku, international checkers, and Othello. That’s five strategy games from one set of 64 pieces, with the folding board itself counting as a sixth mode when you just want something satisfying to fidget with.

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What makes Victory feel genuinely premium is the material. Both board and pieces are CNC-machined from titanium, giving the set a density and tactile precision that plastic travel versions can’t replicate. It’s cool to the touch, holds its finish, and doesn’t feel like something you’d toss carelessly into a bag. Left on a desk between games, it reads less like a board game and more like a well-made EDC object.

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At 5.24 inches (133.20 mm) across and just 7 mm thick when folded, Victory fits in a pocket without creative gymnastics. The two-board structure means each player’s pieces are already arranged on their own half, so you unfold, connect the two sections, and you’re ready in seconds. Whether it’s a café table, a park bench, or a few spare minutes between meetings, there’s no setup ritual to slow things down.

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What you end up with is a chess set that’s genuinely interesting to own, even if you’re not a serious player. The mechanical folding keeps your hands busy, the titanium build makes it worth displaying, and the magnets mean you can bag it and go without a second thought. It won’t replace the full-sized board on your shelf, but for everything else, it’s the set that actually comes with you.

Click Here to Buy Now: $69 $130 (50% off). Hurry, 128/1000 left! Raised over $111,000.

The post The Titanium Chess Set That’s Also the Best EDC Object We’ve Seen first appeared on Yanko Design.

Retroid Pocket Nova plays old time classics and demanding titles with the same level of immersion

The handheld gaming arena is slowly getting saturated with tons of options for gamers with specific sets of needs. That has changed the balance of hardware on offer and the corresponding prices, which have become ever more competitive. Retroid is one of the strong contenders in this keenly contested arena, and their next handheld has been all the rage in the last few weeks.

Following a stint of leaks and rumors around the probable specifications of the handheld, the Chinese OEM has finally announced the latest gaming handheld that’s powered by an SoC similar to the one on the Galaxy S23 Ultra. The portable gaming console is directly pitted against the Ayaneo Pocket Micro 2 (Limited Edition, 110 units sold out in all configurations and colors) and the Anbernic RG 55G1, both released just a few days ago.

Designer: Retroid

This 4.5-inch AMOLED screen (4:3 screen resolution) handheld operating at a peak 120Hz refresh rate is ideal for playing retro titles from the early 2000s, like the ones from the PS2 and GameCube libraries. Powered by the Qualcomm QCS8550 chip mated to an Adreno 740 GPU (clocking at 680MHz) which is equivalent to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor on the flagships of 2023, sans the cellular modem. Just in case the handheld doesn’t get hot and drop off in performance, there is an advanced active cooling system in the mix.

Weighing under nine ounces, the gaming machine comes with a 5,000mAh battery and the ability to fast charge via a USB-C port. The maker is claiming a play time of around eight hours on the fly, which should get you through a day’s gaming spree without having to recharge again. The base version of the device comes in an 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage configuration, while the 12GB RAM paired with 256GB storage variant is well suited for gamers who don’t mind spending a few extra dollars. If you want even beefier storage, expansion via the microSD slot is also an option.

Connectivity of the handheld for OTA updates is taken care of by the WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 modules, which should be less power-consuming. In the hands-on video of the engineering prototype, we can clearly see the handheld with a highly flexible DPAD and 3D Hall effect joysticks. The handheld will be compatible with a second-screen accessory – just like the Pocket 5 and Pocket 6 – which should catch Nintendo DS fans’ attention.

Retroid Pocket Nova can be pre-ordered right now, but there is no confirmed date for the shipping timeline. That said, the see-through black version in the base 8GB/128GB configuration is priced at $229, and the 12GB/256GB variant costs $269. Spend a little more, and you can grab the retro-futuristic translucent colors like Ice Blue, Crystal, Watermelon, and Clear Purple for $234 and $274, respectively, for the same configurations.

The post Retroid Pocket Nova plays old time classics and demanding titles with the same level of immersion first appeared on Yanko Design.