Comparison

Kill the King vs Chess

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

Head to head
About

Kill the King

Experience chess like never before with real-time strategy. Move any piece out-of-turn based on its cooldown, turning classic chess into a frantic army battle. Play online with friends or strangers, or challenge a difficult AI.

Highlights
  • Real-time strategy chess
  • Out-of-turn piece movement
  • Piece cooldown timers
  • Frantic 1-on-1 army battles
  • Challenging singleplayer AI
  • Online multiplayer with friends
Features
Read full description

Take chess to the next level by moving any piece you'd like out-of-turn! In this RTS-style chess game, each chess piece has its own "cool down time". You can move each piece every 5 seconds—even if your opponent doesn't make a move! Play free chess online with your friends or with strangers! Singleplayer is great for beginners and experts! I modified an open-source chess AI engine called Garbo-Chess giving even trained chess players a challenge. Kill the King Features: - Queens, rooks and all pieces can move out-of-turn - Extremely difficulty singleplayer AI - Play free multiplayer chess with friends - AI uses a modified, real chess AI engine - Chess becomes a frantic, 1-on-1 army battle If you have any feature that you'd like added, do not hesitate to email me!

About

Chess

Features
Read full description

Chess with one capture rule changed — and that one change rewires how you think. THE RULE Pieces can only capture the same type. • Pawns capture pawns • Knights capture knights • Queens capture queens • Kings still capture anything (like normal chess) Everything else is normal: check, checkmate, castling, en passant, promotion. WHY PLAY THIS Regular chess rewards muscle memory. Openings on autopilot. Patterns you stop questioning. Here, every capture is a decision. Positions that look like blunders aren’t. Safe-looking pieces suddenly aren’t. It’s a workout for calculation — the kind that transfers back when you return to standard chess. FEATURES • Full games vs CPU (multiple strengths) or pass-and-play • Offline — no account required • Weird-rule mate puzzles built for this capture rule • Themes and piece sets • Optional clocks If you’re stuck in the same games, try a rule that won’t let your hands play for you.

Screenshots

Kill the King3 screens
Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Kill the King at none against Chess's shown. Kill the King also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 5 days) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases 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. Kill the King sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Kill the King ships an update daily, Chess every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Kill the King versus Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKill the KingChess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS8.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoseph HinkleDavid Medawar

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Kill the King

One-time1
  • Ad-Free$9.99
1 purchases

Chess

One-time1
  • Unlock Full Game$1.99

Questions

Is Kill the King free?
Kill the King is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess free?
Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Kill the King or Chess have ads?
Chess shows ads; Kill the King does not.
Which is updated more often, Kill the King or Chess?
Kill the King ships an update daily, and Chess every 5 days. Most recently, Kill the King was updated on October 24, 2026 and Chess on October 25, 2026.

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