Comparison

3 Man Chess vs Active Chess

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

Head to head
About

3 Man Chess

Experience a unique chess variant with three players on a circular board. Form temporary alliances, engage in strategic backstabbing, and discover new tactics not possible in traditional chess.

Highlights
  • Three-player chess on a circular board
  • Local multiplayer via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi
  • Save and transfer games
  • Turn-by-turn replays
  • Optional move highlighting for learning
  • Zoom functionality for mobile devices
Features
Read full description

An app version of the "3 Man Chess: In the Round" board game! Play a variant of chess which has 3 players on a circular board. The unorthodox shape allows for strategies not possible in normal chess: A rook or bishop can loop around the whole board. Two players can work together to checkmate a third, or one player could potentially checkmate both others at the same time. The possibility of temporary alliances and backstabbing among the players gives a dose of political intrigue to the classic chess formula. App Features: - Local multiplayer via Bluetooth or local Wi-Fi. Or just pass one device around between 3 people. - Save your games to come back to them later. Transfer a game in progress to other devices in multiplayer. - Turn-by-turn replays of your matches: pause, adjust the speed, or stop in the middle and play the game from there to rewind. - You can display all the locations a piece can move to for easy learning, or hide them to have a more competitive setting. - Very few changes from traditional chess rules; just enough to make the 3rd player and round board work. - All official chess and 3 Man Chess rules are included, and are enforced during gameplay. - More detailed instructions for using the app and setting up multiplayer are included as well. - The all-important ability to zoom in, especially useful for phones. - No ads.

About

Active Chess

Experience a unique chess variant with randomized starting positions and modified rules for dynamic gameplay. Develop your strategic thinking and planning skills in this engaging board game.

Highlights
  • Randomized starting positions
  • Modified chess rules
  • Strategic gameplay
  • Cognitive skill development
  • Choice of board sizes
  • Play against a chess bot
Features
Read full description

Playing chess regularly develops human cognitive abilities, such as: logical thinking, attentiveness, memory, ability to analyse and plan. However, in classical chess there is one drawback that does not contribute to the interest in the game on the part of millions of potential players. For thousands of years of the existence of chess, all combinations, the so-called openings, that can appear on the chessboard at the beginning of the game, have been developed and well studied. A professional player who knows several of these openings will certainly gain an advantage over an ordinary player, even if his cognitive abilities are obviously lower. Active Chess got its name because it excludes the use of different preliminary preparations in different game situations, especially at the beginning of the game. In active chess, there is no well-known traditional arrangement of pieces, and this precludes the use of a library of openings. From the first moves of the game, an active game begins, the result of which depends on the player's cognitive abilities, his ability to think and a bit of luck. The luck factor is associated with the formation of the starting position randomly for each player. But in order not to depend on capricious luck, the player can independently form his position on the board. At the same time he does not know what position his opponent will have. This gives a special sharpness of the game. In Active Chess, almost all the rules of classical chess are followed with a few exceptions: • Rule for castling of kings is absent since a player, when creating an initial position, can place his king in that part of the board and among other pieces, where he will be in the greatest safety. • Chess pieces can be placed on the first three ranks of each side in the order that suits the player. • A special mark is applied to the image of the pawns of the first move, which disappears after the first move. • Bishops can be of the same color field or different color fields at the choice of the player. Active Chess has to a choice of two options for boards 8x8 and 8x10. In the current version of the application, only a game with a chess bot is available. The application has ads are shown after the end of the game. The winner does not see ads! You can remove all Ads and limit of preset positions by subscription. Enjoy Game! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: http://books.virenter.com/policy.php

Screenshots

3 Man Chess4 screens
Active Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Active Chess at 5.0 against 3 Man Chess's 1.7. 3 Man Chess's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (6 vs 1). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Active Chess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. 3 Man Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Active Chess holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: 3 Man Chess has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
3 Man Chess versus Active Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter3 Man ChessActive Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.7 (6 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews12.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better1
Update frequency—Every 39 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam KingAlexey Polunin

Customer experience

3 Man Chess

All ratings6 ratings
Positive16.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative83.3%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive12.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative75.0%

Active Chess

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

3 Man Chess

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Active Chess

Subscriptions3
  • Unlimited Positions 1 Week$0.997 Days
  • Unlimited Positions 1 Month$1.991 Month
  • Unlimited Positions 3 Month$4.993 Months

Questions

Is 3 Man Chess free?
3 Man Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Active Chess free?
Active Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, 3 Man Chess or Active Chess?
Active Chess is rated higher. 3 Man Chess averages 1.7 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Active Chess averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do 3 Man Chess or Active Chess have ads?
Neither 3 Man Chess nor Active Chess shows ads.

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