Comparison

Luminosus vs Chess Story

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

Head to head
About

Luminosus

A unique puzzle game blending Tetris-style gameplay with color-matching mechanics. Plan your moves ahead to create white blocks for higher scores. Offers classic and marathon modes, leaderboards, and achievements for endless fun.

Highlights
  • Color-matching puzzle mechanics
  • Strategic planning ahead
  • Classic and Marathon modes
  • Global leaderboards
  • Achievements
  • Controller support
  • Color blind and night modes
Features
Read full description

**Editors pick for “New games we love” in 135+ countries** **Editors pick for “New and noteworthy games” in 150+ countries** **Editors pick for “What we are playing this week”** **Editors choice "Indie corner"** Luminosus is a unique and challenging puzzle game that combines the fun of matching colors on a Tetris-esque board. Puzzle pieces can be changed back and forth as many times as you want, so a red block will change a yellow piece orange but another red piece will change it back to red. If a piece is influenced by all three colors it is turned white and scores significantly more when cleared. In this way the game requires planning more steps ahead than your standard piece-dropping puzzle game. With its simple but addictive gameplay, Luminosus offers hours of entertainment and a twist on the classic Tetris and Puyo experience. Features: • Classic mode for a relaxing experience • Marathon game mode for the ultimate challenge • Compete against the world on the leaderboard • Achievements • Controller support • Color blind and night modes • Unique and challenging gameplay that combines Tetris with color matching

About

Chess Story

Experience chess history through engaging puzzles and missions. Challenge legendary figures and hone your skills against AI opponents. This game offers a unique blend of history, strategy, and thrilling gameplay for all skill levels.

Highlights
  • Historical chess moments
  • Challenging puzzles
  • Mission-based gameplay
  • Epic duels against legends
  • AI Mode with progressive difficulty
  • Candidates Tournament simulation
Features
Read full description

Chess Story - Chess Game Analysis & History Master chess with Chess Story, the app that combines history, tactics, and AI-powered game analysis. AI Game Analysis with Coach Ruy Lopez Get instant feedback after every game. Your virtual coach Ruy Lopez analyzes every move, detects blunders, mistakes and brilliant moves, and explains exactly why each decision was good or bad. Track your accuracy score and estimated Elo rating to measure your real progress. Learn Chess Through History Travel through key moments in chess history. Solve challenging puzzles, complete tactical missions, and face legendary chess figures in epic duels, from the first world champion to modern grandmasters. Train & Improve at Your Own Pace AI Duel Mode: face 15 opponents from 600 to 2000 Elo Puzzle Ladder: train tactics from 400 to 3000+ Elo Accuracy tracking and Elo estimation after every game Move-by-move analysis with explanations in plain language Challenge the World Champion Enter the Candidates Tournament, defeat the top contenders, and claim the world championship title. Whether you're a beginner learning the basics or an intermediate player looking to break through your rating plateau, Chess Story gives you the tools to understand your mistakes and keep improving. Available in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Screenshots

Luminosus4 screens
Chess Story4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Chess Story at Free against Luminosus's $0.29. Chess Story also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 71%). Luminosus's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.9 vs 4.5). On update cadence, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

Chess Story is free to download; Luminosus costs $0.29 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Luminosus holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Luminosus has 17 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Luminosus's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chess Story's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Luminosus ships an update fortnightly, Chess Story every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and July 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Luminosus versus Chess Story: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLuminosusChess Story
Price$0.29Free — better
Rating4.9 (17 ratings) — better4.5 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings17 — better2
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.014.0
Further details — not scored
Size114 MB44 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShort Circuit Studiomichael belhatte

Customer experience

Luminosus

All ratings17 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%

Chess Story

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Luminosus

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Story

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Luminosus free?
Luminosus costs $0.29, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Story free?
Chess Story is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Luminosus or Chess Story?
Luminosus is rated higher. Luminosus averages 4.9 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Chess Story averages 4.5 from 2 ratings.
Do Luminosus or Chess Story have ads?
Chess Story shows ads; Luminosus does not.
Which is updated more often, Luminosus or Chess Story?
Luminosus ships an update fortnightly, and Chess Story every 3 weeks. Most recently, Luminosus was updated on September 17, 2026 and Chess Story on July 17, 2026.

Other comparisons