Comparison

Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles vs Can U Dig It!

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

Head to head
About

Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles

Challenge your chess skills with over 1200 interactive puzzles designed to help you force a checkmate in three moves. This app offers a revamped engine, timing clock, customizable piece sets and color schemes, and social leaderboards. It's ideal for players looking to improve their tactical abilities.

Highlights
  • Over 1200 chess puzzles
  • Force checkmate in 3 moves
  • Revamped chess engine
  • Timing clock and solve times
  • Customizable piece sets and color schemes
  • Social leaderboards
  • Facebook integration
Features
Read full description

The Ultimate mate in 3 moves chess puzzle app! Sharpen your chess skills with Mate in 3 Puzzles! Beginners and experienced players will enjoy solving these chess problems! This app has over 1200 interactive chess puzzles that will challenge you. The object is to finish each game by forcing a checkmate in 3 moves. The puzzles consist of a large number of classical puzzles collected from a variety of sources. These puzzles are fun to play and can be enjoyed at your leisure on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Mate in 3 chess problems are especially useful for moderate to advanced chess players or anyone wanting to improve their skills. New features added in Version 2.0 include: ------------------------------ - Completely revamped chess engine that is much stronger - Timing clock is displayed while you are working on each puzzle. How long you take to solve a puzzle is stored. - New options: more chess piece sets (total of 7) and more colors schemes (total of 7) including wood and marble. (Improved the options menu as well) - Social Gaming: Leaderboards to compare the number of puzzles you have solved with your friends and other players. Facebook integration - including the ability to post your progress and ask your friends for help on a puzzle. - Universal app - works on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad - high resolution graphics all around (where supported). For even more chess puzzle challenges check out these apps: - Mate in 1 Puzzles - Mate in 2 Puzzles - Mate in 4+ Puzzles

About

Can U Dig It!

Embark on an archaeological adventure to unearth ancient Maya artifacts. This logic-based puzzle game challenges you to strategically dig and collect rare items. Compete with friends worldwide and learn about authentic historical objects.

Highlights
  • Explore Maya excavation sites
  • Challenging logic puzzles
  • Two distinct play modes
  • Comprehensive artifact collection
  • Global high score comparison
Features
Read full description

How many ancient artifacts can you dig up in this addictive puzzle game? Use strategic thinking to collect rare items in this unique, math-based challenge that’ll have you asking: Can I Dig It? Dig-It! Games presents CanUDigIt!, an addictive dig-em-up journey that teams players up with Team Q, a group of adventurous archaeologists, as they search for rare artifacts from exotic excavation sites. Use logic and strategic thinking to build up your artifact collection of authentic ancient Maya tools, weapons, jewelry, and more. Compare your high scores and achievements with friends across the world through Game Center. App Features • Explore exotic excavation sites in the Maya in Central America • Test your wit with challenging puzzles • 2 different play modes: are you a Planner or a Digger? • Comprehensive Artifact Collection offers historically accurate information on more than 40 genuine ancient Maya objects

Screenshots

Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles4 screens
Can U Dig It!3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Can U Dig It! at Free against Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles's $0.99. Can U Dig It! also leads on iOS requirement (8.0 vs 13.0). Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 7 months vs every 46 months). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Can U Dig It! is free to download; Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles costs $0.99 up front. Can U Dig It! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 12 and 3 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 68% of Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles's written reviews are positive against 75% of Can U Dig It!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles ships an update every 7 months, Can U Dig It! every 46 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles versus Can U Dig It!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMate in 3 Chess PuzzlesCan U Dig It!
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (12 ratings) — better4.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews68.4% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings12 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 7 months — betterEvery 46 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB49 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperGano Technologies LLCDig-It Games, LLC

Customer experience

Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles

All ratings12 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive68.4%
Neutral15.8%
Negative15.8%

Can U Dig It!

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

None

Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Can U Dig It!

One-time1
  • Level Pack 1Free

Questions

Is Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles free?
Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Can U Dig It! free?
Can U Dig It! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles or Can U Dig It!?
Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles is rated higher. Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles averages 4.3 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Can U Dig It! averages 4.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles or Can U Dig It! have ads?
Neither Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles nor Can U Dig It! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles or Can U Dig It!?
Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles ships an update every 7 months, and Can U Dig It! every 46 months. Most recently, Mate in 3 Chess Puzzles was updated on November 1, 2026 and Can U Dig It! on October 28, 2026.

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