# Once Upon a Tower vs Blindmate Chess

The clearest difference is ads: Blindmate Chess at none against Once Upon a Tower's shown. Once Upon a Tower's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months) and device support (4 vs 1). On price and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Once Upon a Tower sells 24 one-off in-app purchases and Blindmate Chess sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Once Upon a Tower ships an update every 3 weeks, Blindmate Chess every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Once Upon a Tower | Blindmate Chess |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (3.3K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/once-upon-a-tower/id1209083773/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **3.3K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 75.1% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Every 6 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 226 MB | 567 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 18.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Pomelo Games](https://appshunter.io/developer/899606172) | [Shigeki Karouji](https://appshunter.io/developer/975941302) |

## What reviewers say

### Once Upon a Tower

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/once-upon-a-tower/id1209083773)

Break free from your tower prison in this adventure game. Armed with a war hammer, you'll battle enemies and escape a dragon. Your rescue is up to you!

**Highlights:** Tower escape adventure, Battle enemies, Fight a dragon, Princess protagonist, Offline gameplay

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (24)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Oscura | $0.99 | one-time |
| Sigrid | $0.99 | one-time |
| Noriko | $0.99 | one-time |
| Lives Pack x10 | $0.99 | one-time |
| Myrina | $0.99 | one-time |
| Loriel | $0.99 | one-time |
| Denise | $0.99 | one-time |
| Ali'i | $0.99 | one-time |
| Lilith | $0.99 | one-time |
| Dragon scales x20 | $0.99 | one-time |
| Lives Pack x25 | $0.99 | one-time |
| Rita | $0.99 | one-time |
| Linda | $0.99 | one-time |
| Muffin | $0.99 | one-time |
| Xochi | $0.99 | one-time |
| Nzinga | $0.99 | one-time |
| Draculina | $0.99 | one-time |
| Lives Pack x25 | $1.99 | one-time |
| Lives Pack x60 | $3.99 | one-time |
| Dragon scales x100 | $3.99 | one-time |
| Lives Pack x200 | $4.99 | one-time |
| Lives Pack x200 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Lives Pack x1,500 | $49.99 | one-time |
| Lives Pack x9,999 | $99.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 💕 Addictive gameplay
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics
- 🎮 Simple but engaging mechanics
- 🚀 Great time killer
- 👍 Empowering female characters

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🔍 Unclear instructions/tutorials
- 🔁 Repetitive levels
- 💰 Aggressive monetization with ads
- 🤖 Unresponsive controls

**Reported bugs**

- Game freezes when watching ads
- Progress resets after crashes
- Challenges not tracking properly
- Compatibility issues on older devices

**Requested features**

- More character/princess variety
- Ability to save progress
- Difficulty settings
- Multiplayer mode
- Level editor


### Blindmate Chess

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blindmate-chess/id6760651364)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (8)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gold Slate Theme | $0.49 | one-time |
| Jade Ash Theme | $0.49 | one-time |
| Crimson Bone Theme | $0.49 | one-time |
| Classic Piece Set | $0.99 | one-time |
| Sera Voice Pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| Noah Voice Pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| Mira Voice Pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| Kai Voice Pack | $0.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Once Upon a Tower free?

Once Upon a Tower is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Blindmate Chess free?

Blindmate Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Once Upon a Tower or Blindmate Chess have ads?

Once Upon a Tower shows ads; Blindmate Chess does not.

### Which is updated more often, Once Upon a Tower or Blindmate Chess?

Once Upon a Tower ships an update every 3 weeks, and Blindmate Chess every 6 months. Most recently, Once Upon a Tower was updated on October 22, 2026 and Blindmate Chess on October 16, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*