Square Worlds vs Notation
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Tile placement mechanics
- Scoring system
- Coin management
- Unlockable game modes
- Achievements
- Hidden secrets
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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...
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
Square Worlds ships an update fortnightly, Notation every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Square Worlds | Notation |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better | 4.4 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 7 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 59 MB | 563 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sunil Patel | Darren Cox |
Customer experience
Square Worlds
Notation
In-app purchases
Square Worlds
- Extra Modes$0.99
Notation
No in-app purchases









