Khet Laser Game 2.0 Review: Laser Chess That Fits a Real Table

Forty-six by 37 centimeters. That's the only hard number the Khet 2.0 listing gives you, and it's the one I check first, because a laser game that won't sit between two folding chairs on club night never leaves the shelf. My verdict up front: Khet 2.0 is a real abstract strategy game with a laser bolted on, and the laser carries more of the fun than the chess does. I'd buy it for a family table. I wouldn't buy it to get better at chess.

Search "laser chess board game" and you get a muddle of three or four different things: the old Laser Chess sets, the Khet line, and a pile of novelty junk with a diode in it. Khet is the branch that survived. It's published here under getDigital, and the pitch is simple. You don't capture by landing on a piece. You rotate and slide your pieces so a mirror throws the beam into a target.

On method, straight up: I haven't unboxed this set or played a game on it. Nobody sent me one. What I've done is read the listing line by line, checked the numbers against what a club table actually holds, and followed the long-running conversation about the Khet line. That's the basis for everything below.

What it is and who it's for

Two things define Khet 2.0, and both come off the product data. First, the win condition: the aim is to use mirrors to direct the laser beam onto a specific figure of the opponent. Second, the laser is integrated, so the beam is part of the hardware rather than a separate gizmo you buy later. The board measures 46 x 37 cm.

That win condition is the interesting part. In chess you grind toward the king. Here you're aiming light, which means every piece on the board is potentially a wall, a mirror, or a target, and the geometry shifts every time somebody slides a piece one square. It's a spatial puzzle dressed as a strategy game. Good for a mixed-age table.

Who's it for? Families with a kid old enough to sit still for a thinking game. Adults who like Quoridor or Zendo and want something with a bit of theater. Chess players after a crossover night that isn't another blitz game.

Who's it not for? Anyone shopping for a trainer. This won't touch your openings, and if that's the goal, a machine does it better; the best chess computers hold a rating you can actually work against instead of a beam you can only point.

What the specs actually tell you

Convert 46 x 37 cm and you land at roughly 18.1 x 14.6 inches. That's compact. Smaller than a 20-inch tournament chessboard, which means it plays on a coffee table with two mugs and a bowl of pretzels and still leaves room to reach across.

For a laser game, small is an advantage. You want the beam crossing a short, predictable distance in a room where you can kill one lamp.

Now the honest part. Those outer dimensions are all you get. The listing doesn't state the size of an individual square, so I can't run the usual check against square guidance. US Chess puts tournament squares at 2 to 2.5 inches with a king base around 75 to 80 percent of that. Irrelevant here, since there's no king, but it tells you how much measuring you can do with what's published.

Here's the rest of what isn't listed: player count, age range, play time, piece count, battery type or count, and laser class. That last one matters most. An integrated laser means power, and power means a battery compartment somewhere, but you won't learn from this page whether it eats AAs or AAAs or how many.

And I'll concede the point that a spec sheet isn't the product. Plenty of good games ship with thin listings. But when the missing line is the laser class and you've got a nine-year-old at the table, thin stops being charming. Electronic boards publish their sensor and power details because buyers demand it; the best electronic chess boards roundup is where I'd send you if data sheets are the deciding factor.

What owners report

Straight answer first: this specific listing carries no star rating and no review count. Null, both fields. So I can't hand you a number and pretend it means something.

What I can tell you is the shape of the conversation around the Khet line as a whole, which has been running for years now. Two themes dominate. The first is the moment the mirror mechanic clicks, usually mid-game when somebody realizes their own piece is blocking their own shot and has been for three turns. People enjoy that.

The second theme, and this is the common complaint, is the beam itself. A laser dot in a bright living room at three in the afternoon is a squint. Owners of laser games generally talk about needing a dimmer room or a shaded table, and about batteries going flat at the wrong moment because the switch got left on.

The third, quieter grumble is solo play. There isn't any. This is a two-person box, and if the second person is your kid, you'll be playing the same person alot. Which is fine until it isn't.

Pros and cons

Pros

• The win condition is different from chess in a way that stays interesting: mirrors redirect, so your own pieces are obstacles.
• 46 x 37 cm is a genuinely small footprint for a game with this much table presence.
• Integrated laser means nothing extra to buy, charge separately, or lose behind the couch.
• A specific target figure gives every game a clear object, which helps newer players see what they're aiming at.

Cons

• No laser class is stated, so eye-safety decisions with kids come down to guesswork.
• No battery type or count is listed, which makes budgeting annoying.
• Zero owner rating on this page, so you're buying on design and reputation, not on verified reviews.
• Two players only, and nothing in the data hints at a solo mode.

Specs at a glance

Alternatives worth a look

No other laser chess sets came with this batch of data, so these are the honest turn-left options if the beam isn't the point.

If you want a board that plays back and coaches as you go, the chessup 2 review covers a light-up board with an app behind it. Different budget, different hobby.

If self-moving pieces are what you're actually after, the guide to the best chess board that moves on its own sorts the ones that reliably reset and play a full game from the ones that jam on move twelve.

And if you want a standalone machine with no phone, no app and no subscription, the dgt centaur review is the closest thing to a self-contained opponent that still feels like sitting at a board.

Should you buy it

Buy it if the mirror mechanic sounds fun and you've got a second person in the house who'll play it more than once. It's compact, it's tactile, it does something chess sets can't, and the design idea has survived long enough to trust.

Skip it if you want a solo opponent, a chess trainer, or published laser safety details before you spend a nickel. Those are reasonable things to want, and this listing doesn't give them to you.

If you're honestly shopping for something that improves your game rather than entertains a table, go the other direction and start with smart chess boards. Khet is a good night in. It isn't a coach.