Universal Library vs Play960
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Universal Library
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This game is a simulation of the universal library described in a short story, "The Library of Babel", by Jorge Luis Borges. The story can be found in several published collections and websites. As described, the Library contains all books of a certain size whose text is any possible sequence of lower-case letters and simple punctuation, even if it is nonsense. This simulation is of an interesting corner of the Library, tiny compared to the Borges vision, but large enough to get lost in. The game is an explorable virtual environment with a few treasure-hunt-like activities leading to books with meaningful content. There is a book that players can erase and rewrite to make into their own "personal vindication", and a book with a practically infinite number of pages. Individual books are searchable. You can mark and return easily to any alcove with an interesting book.
Play960
Generate random Chess960 positions for over-the-board play. You can view positions by number, reverse lookup using a piece keyboard, and customize the display. Easily copy FEN notation to other apps.
- Generate random Chess960 positions
- View positions by number
- Reverse lookup with piece keyboard
- Customizable display options
- Copy/paste FEN notation
- Full-screen mode
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This is a Chess960 (Freestyle Chess, a.k.a. Fischer Random) position generator for over-the-board (OTB) play. With this app you can: • Generate a random Chess960 position. • Show position as white, black, or FEN. • Find a Chess960 position by entering a number between 0 and 959. • Reverse Lookup: Use a piece keyboard to obtain the position number. Select each piece, or use the "1" or fast-forward button to randomize either the next square or remainder of the position. • Full Screen Mode: Show the position for both white and black in setup or board view. • Configure the display: Auto full-screen, square colors, figurines or letters, FEN castling symbols. • Copy/paste the position or FEN into another app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Play960 at every 3 months against Universal Library's every 40 months. Play960 also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Universal Library's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Universal Library ships an update every 40 months, Play960 every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Universal Library | Play960 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 40 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 180 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jonathan Millen | Claude Banta |
In-app purchases
Universal Library
No in-app purchases
Play960
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Universal Library free?
Is Play960 free?
Do Universal Library or Play960 have ads?
Which is updated more often, Universal Library or Play960?
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