Luminosus vs Almost Chess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Color-matching puzzle mechanics
- Strategic planning ahead
- Classic and Marathon modes
- Global leaderboards
- Achievements
- Controller support
- Color blind and night modes
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**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
Almost Chess
Experience chess with a randomized board layout, offering a fresh tactical challenge for all skill levels. Adapt to new puzzles daily and test your strategic thinking in this unpredictable version of the classic game.
- Randomized board layouts
- Single player AI challenges
- Two player local mode
- Daily puzzling positions
- Valid move highlighting
- ELO rating system
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A familiar game. An unfamiliar board. Almost Chess is a chess variant with randomized starting positions, so you can focus on the position in front of you instead of memorized openings. PLAY YOUR NEXT MOVE Face AI opponents selected for your in-game rating. Tap a piece to see its legal moves, find tactical opportunities and work toward checkmate. Your rating tracks progress inside Almost Chess; it is not an official chess rating. A NEW CHALLENGE TO RETURN TO Try the daily challenge with three attempts per day. Weekly challenges rotate board restrictions for a different way to play. In the Gauntlet, each win brings a stronger opponent; a loss ends your run. Gauntlet games do not allow undo. MAKE THE BOARD YOURS Explore random boards with no queens, mirrored positions, pawns or extra chaos. Choose from 12 board themes and track your statistics and achievements. LANGUAGE OPTIONS Play in English, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese. Follow your device language or choose a language in Settings. ADS AND OPTIONAL PURCHASE Full-screen ads may appear between completed games. Eligible single-player games start with one free undo; you can choose to watch a rewarded ad for one more undo when an ad is available. The optional one-time Remove Ads purchase removes ads and gives unlimited undos in eligible single-player games. It does not add undo to the Gauntlet.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Almost Chess at Free against Luminosus's $0.29. Luminosus's advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 33%) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On update cadence, ads, 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
Almost Chess is free to download; Luminosus costs $0.29 up front. Almost Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Luminosus asks for nothing beyond the download.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Luminosus | Almost Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.29 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (17 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 17 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 114 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Short Circuit Studio | hourafter |
Customer experience
Luminosus
Almost Chess
In-app purchases
Luminosus
No in-app purchases
Almost Chess
- Remove Ads$2.99
Questions
Is Luminosus free?
Is Almost Chess free?
Do Luminosus or Almost Chess have ads?
Which is updated more often, Luminosus or Almost Chess?
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