Comparison

ε Chess vs Active Chess

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

Head to head
About

ε Chess

Experience chess with a unique twist where pieces can move fractional distances. Capture opponents by overlapping their pieces, with the game concluding upon capturing the opposing king. This innovative take on the classic strategy game offers a fresh challenge.

Highlights
  • Fractional piece movement
  • Overlap capture mechanic
  • Capture the opposing king to win
  • Innovative chess strategy
  • Unique gameplay
Features
Read full description

Infinitesimal Chess (ε Chess for short) is like regular chess, but each piece can move a fractional amount. Pieces move along the same paths as in normal chess, but can stop anywhere along that line. If your piece, which has a size, overlaps one or more opponent's piece, you take them. The game ends when you take the opposing king.

About

Active Chess

Experience a unique chess variant with randomized starting positions and modified rules for dynamic gameplay. Develop your strategic thinking and planning skills in this engaging board game.

Highlights
  • Randomized starting positions
  • Modified chess rules
  • Strategic gameplay
  • Cognitive skill development
  • Choice of board sizes
  • Play against a chess bot
Features
Read full description

Playing chess regularly develops human cognitive abilities, such as: logical thinking, attentiveness, memory, ability to analyse and plan. However, in classical chess there is one drawback that does not contribute to the interest in the game on the part of millions of potential players. For thousands of years of the existence of chess, all combinations, the so-called openings, that can appear on the chessboard at the beginning of the game, have been developed and well studied. A professional player who knows several of these openings will certainly gain an advantage over an ordinary player, even if his cognitive abilities are obviously lower. Active Chess got its name because it excludes the use of different preliminary preparations in different game situations, especially at the beginning of the game. In active chess, there is no well-known traditional arrangement of pieces, and this precludes the use of a library of openings. From the first moves of the game, an active game begins, the result of which depends on the player's cognitive abilities, his ability to think and a bit of luck. The luck factor is associated with the formation of the starting position randomly for each player. But in order not to depend on capricious luck, the player can independently form his position on the board. At the same time he does not know what position his opponent will have. This gives a special sharpness of the game. In Active Chess, almost all the rules of classical chess are followed with a few exceptions: • Rule for castling of kings is absent since a player, when creating an initial position, can place his king in that part of the board and among other pieces, where he will be in the greatest safety. • Chess pieces can be placed on the first three ranks of each side in the order that suits the player. • A special mark is applied to the image of the pawns of the first move, which disappears after the first move. • Bishops can be of the same color field or different color fields at the choice of the player. Active Chess has to a choice of two options for boards 8x8 and 8x10. In the current version of the application, only a game with a chess bot is available. The application has ads are shown after the end of the game. The winner does not see ads! You can remove all Ads and limit of preset positions by subscription. Enjoy Game! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: http://books.virenter.com/policy.php

Screenshots

ε Chess3 screens
Active Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ε Chess at none against Active Chess's 3. ε Chess also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 39 months) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). Active Chess's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating 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

Both are free to download. Active Chess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. ε Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ε Chess against 5.0 for Active Chess. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ε Chess ships an update every 2 days, Active Chess every 39 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
ε Chess versus Active Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterε ChessActive Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 39 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.4 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMax MetralAlexey Polunin

Customer experience

ε Chess

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Active Chess

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

ε Chess

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Active Chess

Subscriptions3
  • Unlimited Positions 1 Week$0.997 Days
  • Unlimited Positions 1 Month$1.991 Month
  • Unlimited Positions 3 Month$4.993 Months

Questions

Is ε Chess free?
ε Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Active Chess free?
Active Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ε Chess or Active Chess?
ε Chess and Active Chess are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do ε Chess or Active Chess have ads?
ε Chess shows ads; Active Chess does not.
Which is updated more often, ε Chess or Active Chess?
ε Chess ships an update every 2 days, and Active Chess every 39 months. Most recently, ε Chess was updated on October 2, 2026 and Active Chess on September 23, 2026.

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