Comparison

Chess ∙ vs Chess TD

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

Head to head
About

Chess ∙

Experience a visually appealing and engaging chess game on your iPhone and iPod Touch. Play against friends or a customizable AI opponent with features like undo and automatic saving. Enjoy a free, ad-supported experience.

Highlights
  • 1 and 2 player gameplay
  • Challenging computer opponent
  • Great graphics and sound
  • Configurable difficulty
  • Undo function
  • Automatic save
Features
Read full description

Are you tired of playing chess games that look like they were designed for a Commodore 64 instead of an iPhone? We've got the antidote for you. Chess Free is the best chess game for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it's free! Chess Free supports both 1 player and 2 player gameplay, so you can play against friends or test your skills against a challenging computer opponent. Chess Free offers a host of exciting features, including: * Great graphics and exciting sound effects * Configurable player names and score tracking * Outstanding AI engine with configurable difficulty level * Board rotation for two player games * Undo function * Automatic save when you get a phone call or exit the application Chess Free is supported by unobtrusive banner advertising. Chess Premium is the same great app without the ads.

About

Chess TD

Engage in a strategic tower defense experience where you merge and upgrade hero cards to build powerful combinations. Defend your stronghold against an invading army through various game modes, including campaign, PvP battles, and dungeons.

Highlights
  • Merge and upgrade hero cards
  • Strategic tower defense gameplay
  • Campaign mode with daily missions
  • PvP Battle Mode
  • Dungeon escape system
  • Card collection and hero diversity
  • Guild and clan battles
Features
Read full description

Chess TD is a story about Toad Stool – The Mighty Wind, a kindness guy with an endless journey to prevent the Dark Lord and his army. During the journey, Toad Stool makes friends with a lot of strong characters and they have the same goal that saving the world. Chess TD will redefine the Tower Defend series with a lot of daily missions, weekly missions, monthly missions. Especially, a brand new campaign mode with a lot of features are waiting for you. Chess TD also have battle mode, where you can challenge and defeat other players Mix and create your most powerful deck combination to defend your stronghold. Collect cards and level up to upgrade your hero. Through battles to find the new card and combine to create a new hero. Endless journey in the big world. Dual with your partner and conquer the dungeon. Complete your collection with diversity cards hero. - Mix and match various kind of hero cards to create a combination that will help you winning other players in Battle Mode - Merge and level up your card hero and play with your partner to get through the dungeon in Dual Mode. - Player will create a new combination with a lot of heroes to defend and against the Dark Lord and his army in Campaign mode - Defend the stronghold from attacks of Dark Lord - Easy to get acquainted - Diverse hero system - Smart upgrade system - Global ranking system - Dungeon escape system - attractive tower climbing - Card collection - Customize tactics - Special PvP system - Diverse mission system with a lot of reward from hero card to gold - Special campaign system - Searching for resources has never been so easy in Chess TD - Many attractive gifts received - Create a guild and build up your empire - Clan battle and world battle - Communicate with players around the world - The difficulty increases with the progress of the game - New Feature like Dual Dungeon will be coming soon - Complete your collection and collect more cards. - Play Dungeon and finding your own cards hero - Free to Play Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/chesstdofficial Discord: https://discord.gg/FY8aBCujWD

Screenshots

Chess ∙4 screens
Chess TD4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess ∙ at none against Chess TD's 14. Chess ∙ also leads on review sentiment (57% vs 24%) and ratings volume (205K vs 853). Chess TD's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Chess TD sells 14 one-off in-app purchases. Chess ∙ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess TD holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 205K ratings behind it against 853, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of Chess ∙'s written reviews are positive against 24% of Chess TD's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, Chess TD every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and August 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Chess ∙ versus Chess TD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess ∙Chess TD
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (205K ratings)4.7 (853 ratings) — better
Positive reviews56.9% of reviews — better24.5% of reviews
Number of ratings205K — better853
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#83 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB491 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperOptime Software LLCvmoga

Customer experience

Chess ∙

All ratings204,953 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral5.4%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews2,579 reviews
Positive56.9%
Neutral7.1%
Negative36.1%

Chess TD

All ratings853 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.1%
Negative5.5%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive24.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative71.4%

User reviews

Chess ∙

From 205K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fun to play everyday
  • 👍 Good free game
  • 👍 Nice little game
  • 👍 Very good practice
  • 👍 Addictive

Room to improve

  • 🐛 AD crazy
  • 🐛 Major glitches make the game impossible
  • 🐛 Force draw
  • 🐛 Issues, needs fixing but has potential
  • 🐛 Disappearing Pieces

Chess TD

From 853 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Awesome game
  • 👍 Interesting gameplay
  • 💡 Unique character design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Login/name input issues
  • 🐛 Game crashes/black screens
  • 🔋 Excessive ads

Bugs and requests

Chess ∙

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • Rook being able to move diagonally
  • Stalemate glitch where it will preemptively call stalemate before it even happens
  • Call stalemate when only the king can't move, and the other pieces can still move
  • Pieces move too fast
  • Doesn't allow en-passant moves by pawns
Show 5 more
  • Refuses to allow legitimate win, claims draw instead
  • Doesn't recognize stalemate
  • Doesn't recognize checkmate
  • Pieces disappearing
  • Illegal moves by the AI

Requested features

6 requests
  • Undo from stalemate
  • Highland opponents last move in green and my last move in blue
  • Allow a third level of zoom to fill the screen
  • Display a numeric value when difficulty slider is moved
  • Ability to turn off safety where you can't move king to where it would get taken out
Show 1 more
  • Ability to turn off draw by stalemate rule

Chess TD

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Can't type in name on login screen
  • Game crashes on startup
  • Matchmaking with AI players instead of real people

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add more slots for characters
  • Improve online multiplayer experience
  • Introduce solo survival mode

In-app purchases

None

Chess ∙

No in-app purchases

14 purchases

Chess TD

One-time14
  • Pile of Diamonds$0.99
  • Wood Offer$0.99
  • Patron Pack$1.99
Show 11 more
  • Beginner Pack Sale$2.99
  • Scoop of Diamonds$4.99
  • Beginner Pack$4.99
  • Silver Offer$4.99
  • Heap of Diamonds$9.99
  • VIP Pass$9.99
  • Gold Offer$9.99
  • Seasonal Battle Pass$9.99
  • Pocket of Diamonds$19.99
  • Sapphire Offer$24.99
  • Bucket of Diamonds$49.99

Questions

Is Chess ∙ free?
Chess ∙ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess TD free?
Chess TD is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess ∙ or Chess TD?
Chess TD is rated higher. Chess ∙ averages 4.5 out of 5 from 205K ratings, while Chess TD averages 4.7 from 853 ratings.
Do Chess ∙ or Chess TD have ads?
Both Chess ∙ and Chess TD show ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess ∙ or Chess TD?
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, and Chess TD every 6 weeks. Most recently, Chess ∙ was updated on September 27, 2026 and Chess TD on August 31, 2026.

Other comparisons