Chess Premium vs Sembl
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess Premium
Enjoy a classic chess experience without ads or internet. Play against a challenging AI with adjustable difficulty or a friend offline. Features stunning visuals, instant auto-saves, and undo support for uninterrupted gameplay.
- No ads or internet required
- Adjustable AI difficulty levels
- Offline two-player mode
- Stunning Retina display visuals
- Instant auto-save
- Undo support and score tracking
Read full descriptionHide full description
Chess Premium — The Chess Game Your iPhone Deserves No ads. No internet required. Just chess, beautifully designed for your iPhone and iPad. Whether you're picking up chess for the first time or looking for a worthy opponent at 2am, Chess Premium delivers. Play against a sophisticated AI with adjustable difficulty — from patient teacher to ruthless opponent — or hand the phone to a friend for a classic two-player match. What makes it Premium: • Stunning visuals built for Retina displays — not ported from another era • AI engine that actually challenges you, with difficulty levels that grow with your game • Offline play, always available — no Wi-Fi, no account, no nonsense • Auto-saves instantly when you take a call or switch apps • Undo support, configurable player names, and full score tracking No subscriptions. No ads. Buy once, play forever. Download Chess Premium and play your first game in seconds. ———— Love classic games? Optime makes a full suite of board and card games — including Backgammon Pro, Checkers Premium, and Sudoku. Search ""Optime Software"" to see them all.
Sembl
Engage in a unique puzzle experience where you create designs through various artistic actions. Master over 190 levels at your own pace or test your speed in timed challenges. Enjoy minimalist graphics and serene music.
- Unique design puzzles
- Paint, cut, punch, stencil, spin
- 32 levels
- Over 190 puzzles
- Journey mode
- Challenge mode
- Minimalist graphics
- Serene sound
Read full descriptionHide full description
"With pleasing music, a lovely design, a unique concept, and the right amount of challenge, Sembl is hard to put down." - AppAdvice Every design is a puzzle and every game is unique. Paint, cut, punch, stencil and spin your way to the perfect design. Master 32 levels and over 190 puzzles at your own pace in the Journey, or race the clock in Challenge mode. ◉ Deceptively simple gameplay ◉ Two ways to play – Journey or Challenge ◉ 32 levels and over 190 unique puzzles ◉ Minimalist graphics and beautiful, serene sound ◉ Stats and leaderboard
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Sembl at Free against Chess Premium's $9.99. Sembl also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.6). Chess Premium's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and rating (4.7 vs 4.2). On review sentiment, 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
Sembl is free to download; Chess Premium costs $9.99 up front. Sembl sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chess Premium asks for nothing beyond the download.
Chess Premium holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Premium has 5.4K ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Chess Premium's written reviews are positive against 74% of Sembl's.
Chess Premium ships an update every 3 months, Sembl every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Premium | Sembl |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (5.4K ratings) — better | 4.2 (21 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.3% of reviews — better | 73.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5.4K — better | 21 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #41 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 39 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Optime Software LLC | Artgig Studio |
Customer experience
Chess Premium
Sembl
Bugs and requests
Chess Premium
Reported bugs
5 issues- Incorrect checkmate detection
- Pawns moving in illegal ways
- Pieces randomly disappearing
- Slow performance after upgrade
- Ads still showing after purchase
Requested features
6 requests- Option to turn off stalemate
- Ability to save and load games
- Notation or move history display
- More board and piece theme options
- Tutorials or strategic tips
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Ability to play against friends
Sembl
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Chess Premium
No in-app purchases
Sembl
- Remove all ads$1.99
