Mini Chess vs Glow Chess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mini Chess
Enjoy a simplified, faster version of chess on your mobile device. Play against AI or a friend on a smaller board with fewer pieces. Ideal for beginners and quick matches.
- Simplified 6x6 chessboard
- Fewer pieces (no knights/bishops)
- Play against 3 AI levels
- Local multiplayer mode
- Quick matches
- Beginner-friendly
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The traditional game of chess made easier and quicker, perfect for iPhone and iPad. Download it now for free and start play in just 1 tap! Mini Chess is a modern simplified version of classic chess, perfect for playing on your phone and tablet, on your own, with 3 level of Artificial Intelligence, or with a friend on the same device (multiplayer). Play on a smaller chessboard (6x6), with less pieces (no knights and bishops) and have fun on more speedy matches than classic chess. Play straight away, with friends, online or solo, and every match takes just minutes. Mini Chess is also perfect for kids to start play the all-time-favourite classic board game. Kids and beginners will find it so easy to learn and to enjoy in just 1 tap and experts will love the new challenge of playing in a different setting. Thanks for playing!
Glow Chess
Engage in the classic strategy game with adjustable difficulty levels and helpful features. Practice tactics and strategy to become a Chess Master. Offers puzzles and a two-player mode for interactive play.
- 5 difficulty levels
- Chess Puzzles
- Game Assistant
- Undo move
- Hints
- 2 player mode
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Hi Players, As you know, Chess is one of the oldest strategy games in the world. Chess is an excellent board logic game that develops such skills as tactics, strategy and visual memory. I'm trying to create an application that allows a player of any level to enjoy the game. Play Chess, unlock levels and be Chess Master! Chess pieces: - The pawn moves to one field forward or two fields at the first move of this figure; beats diagonally to one field forward. - The king moves to one field in the vertical, horizontal or diagonal. - The queen moves to any distance vertically, horizontally or diagonally. - The rook moves to any distance vertically or horizontally. - The knight moves to the field two fields along the vertical and one horizontally or one field vertically and two horizontally. - The bishop moves to any distance diagonally. Important Chess situations: - Check - the situation in chess when a king is under immediate attack by opponent's pieces - Checkmate - the situation in chess when the player whose turn it is to move is in check and has no legal move to escape check. - Stalemate - the situation in chess when the player whose turn it is to move has no legal move and is not in check. (draw) The goal of the game is to checkmate the other king. Two special moves in Chess: - Castling is a double move, performed by the king and the rook that never moved. - En passant is a move in which a pawn can take an opponent's pawn if it jumps over a field under the pawn's blow. Features: - 5 levels of difficulty - Chess Puzzles - Game Assistant (Helper) - Ability to undo a move - Hints of moves - 2 player mode - Realistic graphics - Sound effects - Small size If you want to play good Chess, you can help me make the app better. Please write your feedback and suggestions here; I will read them and improve the quality of the application! Thank you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Mini Chess at every 3 weeks against Glow Chess's every 6 months. Mini Chess also leads on ratings volume (345 vs 39). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Mini Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Glow Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Glow Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mini Chess has 345 ratings behind it against 39, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Mini Chess ships an update every 3 weeks, Glow Chess every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mini Chess | Glow Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (345 ratings) | 4.8 (39 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 345 — better | 39 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 78 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | OutOfTheBit Ltd | Phuong Ta |
Customer experience
Mini Chess
Glow Chess
Bugs and requests
Mini Chess
Reported bugs
5 issues- Checkmate declared incorrectly with viable moves available
- Queen positioned on wrong color
- AI allows illegal moves to prevent player from winning
- Stalemate not handled correctly
- Perpetual check rules unfairly favor opponent
Requested features
10 requests- Add Knights and Bishops to piece options
- Alternative piece combinations (2 Rooks + 2 Bishops)
- Randomized starting positions
- Landscape mode for iPad
- Random color assignment (white/black alternation)
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- Ability to play full traditional chess
- Create custom board feature
- Extremely hard difficulty level
- Physical board version
- Draw by repetition after 3 moves
Glow Chess
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Mini Chess
- Remove Ads$1.99
Glow Chess
- No Ads$3.99
Questions
Is Mini Chess free?
Is Glow Chess free?
Which has better reviews, Mini Chess or Glow Chess?
Do Mini Chess or Glow Chess have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mini Chess or Glow Chess?
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