The Guides Compendium vs Hexpawn
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Guides Compendium
This illustrated and photographic novel offers supplementary details and clues for the primary game, The Guides. While not essential for progression, it provides inspiration for solving puzzles and continuing your cryptic journey.
- Illustrated and photographic novel
- Supplementary game details
- Provides clues
- Inspiration for puzzle-solving
- Cryptic journey assistance
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The Guides Compendium is the illustrated and photographic novel intended to give supplementary detail to the primary game, The Guides. Though not essential to progressing and solving puzzles in the primary game, The Guides Compendium provides clues and may serve as an inspiration to help you continue your cryptic journey. Peculiar, isn't it?
Hexpawn
This game features a chess AI that learns from every game you play. It starts with minimal knowledge but improves with each win, making it increasingly challenging. Experience a unique take on machine learning through strategic gameplay.
- Adaptive AI opponent
- Learns from player wins
- Increasing difficulty
- Simple pawn-only moves
- Machine learning demonstration
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Think you're smarter than a mindless iPhone app? Think again! HEXPAWN is just that: a computer that fits in your pocket and knows almost nothing. What does it know? Only the moves a pawn can make in chess. Oh yeah, and one other thing. Like the proverbial elephant or your seventh grade algebra teacher, it never forgets. So play HEXPAWN. You'll probably win the first few games. But every time you win, HEXPAWN remembers. And it will never make the same mistake twice... which means eventually, HEXPAWN will be impossible to defeat. Don't believe me? Go ahead. Try. See how long you can last against this brainless robot. I bet it won't be long. Enjoy this small dip into the world of machine learning and the eventual domination of the human race at the hands of our machine overlords.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Hexpawn at Free against The Guides Compendium's $0.99. Hexpawn also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 70%) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 25 months). The Guides Compendium's advantage is chart position (#99 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 10.1). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Hexpawn is free to download; The Guides Compendium costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Hexpawn holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 18 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of The Guides Compendium's written reviews are positive against 100% of Hexpawn's.
The Guides Compendium ships an update every 25 months, Hexpawn every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Guides Compendium | Hexpawn |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.2 (18 ratings) | 4.5 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 18 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 25 months | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #99 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 10.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 13 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 2 Fountains LLC | Garrett Milovich |
Customer experience
The Guides Compendium
Hexpawn
In-app purchases
The Guides Compendium
No in-app purchases
Hexpawn
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Guides Compendium free?
Is Hexpawn free?
Which has better reviews, The Guides Compendium or Hexpawn?
Do The Guides Compendium or Hexpawn have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Guides Compendium or Hexpawn?
Other comparisons
