Comparison

MChess vs Airplane Chess

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

Head to head
About

MChess

Features
Read full description

MChess is a chess application designed for players who appreciate familiar rules alongside fresh tactical options. Begin with standard play, then explore the expanded mode: assemble a custom army within a fixed point budget and use hybrid pieces such as the Maharajah, Archbishop, and Chancellor. The app checks custom setups before each match, ensuring unusual positions follow clear legal constraints. Play with a friend online, wherever you both are: one player creates a private room and shares a short room code, the other joins with it. Each player builds their army in private and locks it in โ€” the armies are revealed together and the match starts automatically. You can also play two players on one device, practice against the built-in engine, or use local network play when you are in the same room on separate devices. LAN hidden setup works the same way: each player prepares privately before both armies are revealed.

About

Airplane Chess

Features
Read full description

Airplane Chess is chess for the places a network doesn't reach โ€” a plane, a bus, a tunnel, a car on a long road. Nothing it does needs a server. There are no accounts to make, no ads, no tracking, and no connection to drop halfway through a game. THREE WAYS TO PLAY โ€ข Against the computer, at three levels. It thinks at a human pace rather than answering the instant you move. โ€ข Pass and play, one phone between two people, the board turning to face whoever is to move. โ€ข Two phones side by side, with no network of any kind โ€” over Bluetooth, and between iPhones over Apple's peer-to-peer Wi-Fi as well. Paired players get a lobby: play a game, or just talk. THE WHOLE GAME, PROPERLY Castling, en passant and promotion. Stalemate, insufficient material, threefold repetition and the fifty-move rule โ€” every way a game of chess can end, including the ones most apps quietly skip. Take a move back, resign, or offer a draw. A game you walk away from is still there when you come back, even if the phone restarted in between. Finished games are kept. Step through any of them a move at a time, or send one out as PGN โ€” the format lichess and chess.com both read. IN TEN LANGUAGES Catalan, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish, following your phone unless you tell it otherwise. There is a short guide to the app and to the rules of chess in every one of them. NOTHING TO SET UP No sign-in and no account. A one-minute tour of the board the first time you open it, offered rather than forced, and skippable in one tap. Playing a phone nearby asks for Bluetooth the first time and nothing else โ€” never your location.

Screenshots

MChess4 screens
Airplane Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Airplane Chess at none against MChess's 3. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. MChess sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Airplane Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
MChess versus Airplane Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMChessAirplane Chess
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac โ€” betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better15.1
Further details โ€” not scored
Size32 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlexander VelikotskyPaulo Henrique Carvalho Bing

In-app purchases

3 purchases

MChess

One-time3
  • Coffee$0.99
  • Big Coffee$2.99
  • Supporter$9.99
None

Airplane Chess

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MChess free?
MChess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Airplane Chess free?
Airplane Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do MChess or Airplane Chess have ads?
Neither MChess nor Airplane Chess shows ads.

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