Comparison

Lazy Chess vs Glow Chess

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

Head to head
About

Lazy Chess

This chess game offers a unique twist by presenting players with only two AI-selected moves to choose from each turn. It's designed for both casual players and enthusiasts, making chess more accessible and fun. Compete against AI or friends, unlock new themes, and improve your skills through unique scenarios.

Highlights
  • Choose from two AI-selected moves
  • Compete against AI or online friends
  • Unlock new themes and settings
  • Play unique chess scenarios
  • Leaderboard rankings
Features
Read full description

Lazy Chess is a free, non-profit game created for casual players and enthusiasts alike, where players, at worst, make the second best move available to them. On average, there are more than 30 legal chess moves available to a player in a turn, creating vigintillions of possibilities throughout a game. Lazy Chess compresses that by having you choose only two in a given turn selected by Stockfish, the most robust chess engine in the world. The catch? You won’t know which move is the best! Learn and have fun while you compete against a highly skilled AI or online friends and random opponents. Unlock new themes and settings that can change how many options you choose from or the difficulty of the AI. Hone your chess skills while you move up in the leaderboards and play unique scenarios of famous board states provided from some of the world's most active grandmasters. Lazy Chess is open source and available on GitHub. It was developed by Cinq-Mars Media, an educational non-profit with projects and games featured at E3, PAX and festivals worldwide.

About

Glow Chess

Engage in the classic strategy game with adjustable difficulty levels and helpful features. Practice tactics and strategy to become a Chess Master. Offers puzzles and a two-player mode for interactive play.

Highlights
  • 5 difficulty levels
  • Chess Puzzles
  • Game Assistant
  • Undo move
  • Hints
  • 2 player mode
Features
Read full description

Hi Players, As you know, Chess is one of the oldest strategy games in the world. Chess is an excellent board logic game that develops such skills as tactics, strategy and visual memory. I'm trying to create an application that allows a player of any level to enjoy the game. Play Chess, unlock levels and be Chess Master! Chess pieces: - The pawn moves to one field forward or two fields at the first move of this figure; beats diagonally to one field forward. - The king moves to one field in the vertical, horizontal or diagonal. - The queen moves to any distance vertically, horizontally or diagonally. - The rook moves to any distance vertically or horizontally. - The knight moves to the field two fields along the vertical and one horizontally or one field vertically and two horizontally. - The bishop moves to any distance diagonally. Important Chess situations: - Check - the situation in chess when a king is under immediate attack by opponent's pieces - Checkmate - the situation in chess when the player whose turn it is to move is in check and has no legal move to escape check. - Stalemate - the situation in chess when the player whose turn it is to move has no legal move and is not in check. (draw) The goal of the game is to checkmate the other king. Two special moves in Chess: - Castling is a double move, performed by the king and the rook that never moved. - En passant is a move in which a pawn can take an opponent's pawn if it jumps over a field under the pawn's blow. Features: - 5 levels of difficulty - Chess Puzzles - Game Assistant (Helper) - Ability to undo a move - Hints of moves - 2 player mode - Realistic graphics - Sound effects - Small size If you want to play good Chess, you can help me make the app better. Please write your feedback and suggestions here; I will read them and improve the quality of the application! Thank you.

Screenshots

Lazy Chess4 screens
Glow Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Lazy Chess at every 3 weeks against Glow Chess's every 6 months. Glow Chess's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.4). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Lazy Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Glow Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Glow Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 73 and 39 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lazy Chess ships an update every 3 weeks, Glow Chess every 6 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Lazy Chess versus Glow Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLazy ChessGlow Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (73 ratings)4.8 (39 ratings) — better
Positive reviews55.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings73 — better39
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB78 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCinq-Mars MediaPhuong Ta

Customer experience

Lazy Chess

All ratings73 ratings
Positive83.6%
Neutral5.5%
Negative11.0%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive55.6%
Neutral16.7%
Negative27.8%

Glow Chess

All ratings24 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Lazy Chess

One-time1
  • Ad Free + Full Game$2.99
1 purchases

Glow Chess

One-time1
  • No Ads$3.99

Questions

Is Lazy Chess free?
Lazy Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Glow Chess free?
Glow Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lazy Chess or Glow Chess?
Glow Chess is rated higher. Lazy Chess averages 4.4 out of 5 from 73 ratings, while Glow Chess averages 4.8 from 39 ratings.
Do Lazy Chess or Glow Chess have ads?
Both Lazy Chess and Glow Chess show ads.
Which is updated more often, Lazy Chess or Glow Chess?
Lazy Chess ships an update every 3 weeks, and Glow Chess every 6 months. Most recently, Lazy Chess was updated on November 3, 2026 and Glow Chess on November 3, 2026.

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