Comparison

™ Chess vs Chessplode

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

™ Chess

Engage in the timeless strategy of chess on your mobile device. Play against sophisticated AI opponents across multiple difficulty levels, or challenge friends and family. Features include an undo option, board editor, and customizable themes for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • Play against AI
  • Multiplayer matches
  • Undo feature
  • Board editor
  • Customizable themes
  • Game save/load
  • Timed games
Features
Read full description

Chess is a classic board game for quiet study, quick practice, local play, and relaxed online matches through Game Center. Play your way: - Start an online game through Game Center and play a casual no-time-limit match. - Practice against multiple AI difficulty levels. - Solve thousands of chess puzzles, including 777 newly added tactical positions. - Play local two-player games on the same device. - Save and load games when you want to continue later. - Set up custom positions with the board editor. - Customize boards, pieces, avatars, sounds, and themes. - Try timed games when you want a sharper challenge. This update also adds a seasonal football-themed board background and avatar for the 2026 world tournament season. Whether you want to train tactics, learn openings, play against AI, share a local game, or challenge another player online, Chess is built for comfortable play at your own pace.

About

Chessplode

This app offers a unique twist on chess where capturing a piece causes others in the same line and column to explode. It's designed to be fun and accessible, even for those who aren't skilled at traditional chess, offering both single-player and multiplayer modes.

Highlights
  • Exploding pieces on capture
  • Real-time multiplayer battles
  • User-created levels
  • Local multiplayer mode
  • AI opponent practice
  • Customizable color themes
Features
Read full description

Chessplode is modern chess for everyone, it makes chess fun even if you're bad ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, one simply move... can change all game. -- THE MODERN RULE -- Chessplode is pretty much like chess with a really BIG twist... - CAPTURE a piece and everything in the same LINE and COLUMN will EXPLODE... - But if a KING is in that LINE or COLUMN it will be a really *boring* chess capture (no explosions) -- THINK DIFF... *DISTINCT* -- This rule is pretty tricky, in regular chess you need to defend your KING, but in Chessplode it can save your pieces. Remember, you can't capture some pieces because you could get check. Sometimes you will checkmate capturing a piece that explodes. And other you will be afraid of having several pieces in the same line or column...(POP!) -- FRIENDS (Who love chess) REVIEW -- They find Chessplode a great challenge and love how they need to change the old way of thinking even if they are winning... a bad move and they will run out of pieces. -- FRIENDS (Who *meh* chess) REVIEW -- Chess + Explosions... you got my attention. Some of these friends were casual chess players and others didn't really feel the attraction for chess. Both find Chessplode a really fun game. When they were playing regular chess they were not good, now they are the kings of the hill. -- FEATURES -- * FREE TO PLAY * Realtime chess battles multiplayer with people around the world. * In multiplayer you can send an emoji (to express your feelings) with every move you submit. Instant fun! * Play Levels created for other players, you can find really madness here, but you can undo your move... everyone can make a mistake. * Create your own custom Level and submit it to everyone can play it. Challenge the world! * Try local multiplayer battles with friends in the same device. Head to head! * Practice playing versus Ziri. * A lot of different color themes, play day and night with your favourite colors. Thank you for playing "Chessplode"! I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it ;) Support: Are you having problems? http://twitter.com/juaxma http://twitter.com/chessplode hello@juan.ma Privacy Policy: http://juan.ma/chessplode/privacypolicy/ AppPreview Music: https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/jazzy-frenchy © Juan Manuel Altamirano Argudo / juan.ma

Screenshots

™ Chess4 screens
Chessplode4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: ™ Chess at none against Chessplode's shown. ™ Chess also leads on ratings volume (10K vs 545). Chessplode's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (61% vs 37%). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ™ Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Chessplode sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for ™ Chess against 4.5 for Chessplode. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ™ Chess has 10K ratings behind it against 545, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 37% of ™ Chess's written reviews are positive against 61% of Chessplode's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

™ Chess ships an update every 4 months, Chessplode every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
™ Chess versus Chessplode: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter™ ChessChessplode
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (10K ratings)4.5 (545 ratings)
Positive reviews37.4% of reviews61.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings10K — better545
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size112 MB86 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVM Mobile TeamJuan Manuel Altamirano Argudo

Customer experience

™ Chess

All ratings10,299 ratings
Positive86.2%
Neutral6.1%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews613 reviews
Positive37.4%
Neutral7.8%
Negative54.8%

Chessplode

All ratings545 ratings
Positive87.9%
Neutral4.0%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews67 reviews
Positive61.2%
Neutral9.0%
Negative29.9%

User reviews

™ Chess

From 10K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Challenging gameplay
  • 🚀 Quick response times
  • 💡 Variety of difficulty levels
  • 🤩 Enjoyable for chess lovers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent difficulty levels
  • 🤬 Overpowered AI on easy mode
  • 💰 Too many ads
  • 🤯 Frustrating for beginners

Chessplode

From 545 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Quick gameplay
  • 👍 Beautiful and fun game
  • 👍 Fantastic and great fun twist on chess
  • 👍 Lovely little game
  • 👍 Chess with a new challenge

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Won't open or get stuck
  • 🐛 Issues with king movement and checkmate detection
  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 AI issues with thinking and repeating moves
  • 🐛 Overly difficult, even at easy levels

Bugs and requests

™ Chess

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Illegal moves allowed by AI
  • Incorrect draw detection
  • Castling not functioning properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more difficulty settings
  • Allow under-promotion
  • Improve AI difficulty scaling
  • Reduce ads or offer paid version

Chessplode

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Won't open or get stuck on certain screens
  • Issues with king movement and checkmate detection
  • Crashes and freezes, especially when AI is thinking
  • AI issues with thinking and repeating moves

Requested features

9 requests
  • Add local multiplayer mode
  • Add classic chess mode
  • Add more basic puzzles
  • Add ability to go back to previous levels
  • Add option to remove explosions
Show 4 more
  • Add Repetition end-condition
  • Add Resign button
  • Add themed boards
  • Add online levels and multiplayer

In-app purchases

1 purchases

™ Chess

One-time1
  • Premium$3.99
5 purchases

Chessplode

One-time5
  • +100 Undos$0.99
  • Generous Tip$0.99
  • Massive Tip$1.99
Show 2 more
  • INFINITE UNDOS$1.99
  • Amazing Tip$2.99

Questions

Is ™ Chess free?
™ Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chessplode free?
Chessplode is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ™ Chess or Chessplode?
™ Chess and Chessplode are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 10K and 545 ratings respectively.
Do ™ Chess or Chessplode have ads?
Chessplode shows ads; ™ Chess does not.
Which is updated more often, ™ Chess or Chessplode?
™ Chess ships an update every 4 months, and Chessplode every 2 weeks. Most recently, ™ Chess was updated on September 25, 2026 and Chessplode on September 2, 2026.

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