Comparison

Square Worlds vs Notation

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

Head to head
About

Square Worlds

This elegant tile-placement game challenges players to strategically fill a 5x5 grid for maximum points. Manage your coins while discovering unique scoring mechanics for each tile type. Unlock additional game modes for a deeper experience.

Highlights
  • Tile placement mechanics
  • Scoring system
  • Coin management
  • Unlockable game modes
  • Achievements
  • Hidden secrets
Features
Read full description

Square Worlds combines boardgame and puzzle game elements into a simple tile placement game with hidden depth. You must optimally place tiles into a 5x5 grid to earn the most points, whilst keeping an eye on your coins! Each type of tile scores points in a different way, making for some rich and moreish gameplay. If you like the game, and once you know your way around the first game mode, there are two additional modes to unlock for a one-time purchase. There are no ads or consumables. Each game mode comes with several achievements and additional secrets to discover...

About

Notation

This app provides in-depth chess coaching by explaining the 'why' behind moves, not just the 'what'. It uses advanced on-device analysis and multiple coaching frameworks to offer personalized game reviews, player profiles, and opponent scouting.

Highlights
  • On-device chess analysis with Stockfish 18
  • Multiple grandmaster-level coaching frameworks
  • Detailed game reviews and player profiles
  • Opponent scouting and matchup reports
  • Play with physical chess boards via Bluetooth
  • Privacy-focused design with no tracking
Features
Read full description

Notation is a chess coaching app that teaches you why — not just what. Every chess evaluation comes from Stockfish 18, running entirely on your device. Every pattern, weakness, and tactical motif is detected by hand-tuned on-device classifiers built on decades of coaching theory. The language model's only job is the last step: explaining what the analysis found, in plain English, like a coach sitting next to you. The chess is never generated. It's explained. THREE COACHING FRAMEWORKS Notation is the first chess app to operationalise multiple grandmaster-level coaching frameworks as deterministic measurement: • Dan Heisman's seven positional elements — Mobility, Vulnerability, Centre Control, Coordination, Speed, Time, Flexibility — measured per-position with super-GM baselines • Jeremy Silman's coaching emphasis frames — fifteen frames choosing what to teach at each moment • Jacob Aagaard's positional predicates — Where are the weaknesses? Which is the worst-placed piece? What's the opponent's plan? All computed on-device. All deterministic. The same principles human coaches have used for decades, encoded into classifiers that run before the language model ever sees the position. GAME REVIEW Every game gets a coherent on-device review — no API key needed, no internet, no cost. Template-driven narrative against the full coaching substrate. When you want depth, upgrade once with your own Anthropic or OpenAI API key, o ruse the On Device LLM with no additional costs and the richer review becomes the permanent artefact for that game. Nadia comments on at most six moments — only the ones worth learning from. PDF export of every review. PLAYER PROFILE Style axes — Aggression, Tactical Alertness, Positional Play, Endgame — derived from the substrate with confidence bands. The seven Heisman elements sit below as evidence. Full-screen iPad dashboard. PDF coaching report you could hand to a human coach. OPPONENT SCOUTING & MATCHUP REPORTS Scout reports surface the full eight-axis substrate on any opponent. How-to-play-against framing with concrete suggestions. Player-vs-opponent comparison across all axes with weakest-phase detection. SHADOW — YOUR CHESS TWIN Shadow learns how you play and saves checkpoints. Play yourself from six months ago. See how far you've come. Coming soon: calibrate Shadow to your real-life rivals by importing their games. PLAY ON YOUR PHYSICAL BOARD Pair with Chessnut Air, Pro, Go, Air+ and Move over Bluetooth. Notation tracks every move on real wood while Nadia coaches. PRIVACY BY DESIGN Stockfish on-device. All coaching classifiers on-device. Cohort baselines on-device. Optional cloud AI is bring-your-own-key — your Anthropic or OpenAI API key, your account, your data. We never see it. Leave the field blank and Notation works fully without it. IMPORT YOUR GAMES Connect Lichess or Chess.com. Import PGN files. Nadia analyses everything in the background. £2.99. One-off. No subscription. No ads. No tracking. Yours forever.

Screenshots

Square Worlds4 screens
Notation4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Square Worlds at 100% against Notation's 0%. Square Worlds also leads on price (Free vs $2.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.4). Notation's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly). On ratings volume, 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

Square Worlds is free to download; Notation costs $2.99 up front. Square Worlds sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Notation asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Square Worlds holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Square Worlds's written reviews are positive against 0% of Notation's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Square Worlds ships an update fortnightly, Notation every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Square Worlds versus Notation: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSquare WorldsNotation
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating5.0 (6 ratings) — better4.4 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings67 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB563 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSunil PatelDarren Cox

Customer experience

Square Worlds

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Notation

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral33.3%
Negative66.7%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Square Worlds

One-time1
  • Extra Modes$0.99
None

Notation

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Square Worlds free?
Square Worlds is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Notation free?
Notation costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Square Worlds or Notation?
Square Worlds is rated higher. Square Worlds averages 5.0 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Notation averages 4.4 from 7 ratings.
Do Square Worlds or Notation have ads?
Neither Square Worlds nor Notation shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Square Worlds or Notation?
Square Worlds ships an update fortnightly, and Notation every 5 days. Most recently, Square Worlds was updated on November 3, 2026 and Notation on November 9, 2026.

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