Chess ∙ vs Shogi Lite
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 1 and 2 player gameplay
- Challenging computer opponent
- Great graphics and sound
- Configurable difficulty
- Undo function
- Automatic save
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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.
Shogi Lite
A digital adaptation of the ancient Japanese board game, offering a strategic challenge similar to chess. Players can capture opponent pieces and redeploy them on the board, adding a unique tactical layer to gameplay.
- Classic Shogi gameplay
- Piece capture and redeployment
- Two-player strategy
- Similar to Chess and Xiangqi
- Digital board game adaptation
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“Shogi” is a classic board game that has been popularly played for the past 1000 years. It is similar to the games of chess and xiangqi. One unique feature of “Shogi” is it allows players to use the captured pieces.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Shogi Lite at none against Chess ∙'s shown. Shogi Lite also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Chess ∙'s advantage is ratings volume (207K vs 12) and chart position (#72 vs unranked). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Chess ∙ against 4.6 for Shogi Lite. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 207K ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 56% and 55% positive.
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, Shogi Lite every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess ∙ | Shogi Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (207K ratings) | 4.6 (12 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.3% of reviews — better | 55.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 207K — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #72 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Optime Software LLC | Shigeo Mimura |
Customer experience
Chess ∙
Shogi Lite
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
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- 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
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- Ability to turn off draw by stalemate rule
Shogi Lite
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Chess ∙
No in-app purchases
Shogi Lite
No in-app purchases
