Comparison

Dinosaur Chess vs Learn Chinese

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

Head to head
About

Dinosaur Chess

Learn and play chess with an engaging, non-intimidating approach. Features interactive lessons, mini-games, puzzles, and play against animated dinosaurs. Progress from beginner to advanced tactics.

Highlights
  • Interactive chess lessons
  • Mini games and puzzles
  • Play against animated dinosaurs
  • Chess tactics lessons
  • Progressive difficulty levels
  • Multi-student support
Features
Read full description

** Appysmarts.com: 97/100 EDITOR'S FAVORITE! ** Previously nominated for a BAFTA (Best Interactive Media)! ** ** Featured by Apple in it's "New & Noteworthy" section! ** ** No Ads. No In-App-Purchases ** ** Universal App optimized for iPad, iPhone. Retina Graphics. Dinosaur Chess is the fun way to learn and play chess. Designed to be non-intimidating: -- Learn how to play chess with 11 bite-sized interactive lessons. -- Over 20 mini games and puzzles. -- Play simplified and full chess against 6 beautifully animated dinosaurs. -- Entertaining and challenging. -- Learning and playing chess encourage concentration, improves cognitive abilities and rational thinking. -- Can now play as a Boy Student or as a Girl Student. -- Multi-student support For more advanced learners: -- 8 chess Tactics lessons. -- The 'Amazing Chess Tactics Machine' game to practice chess tactics/puzzles. -- Chess Engine can be set to Easy/Medium/Hard Sign up to Professor MacDinosaur's chess class. You will grow from a hatchling, fresh from the egg, to a huge dinosaur ready to take on the Trex. The action takes you through different parts of the dinosaur's world from jungles to forests. Here you learn the chess skills that will help you grow enough to defeat the other dinosaurs in battle. ________________________________ Some Reviews: *Excellent step by step approach by Jurassienne_Dole Lots of examples of the basic moves and tactics and some amusing side games involving dinosaurs. Fun for kids and adults alike and plenty of challenges at all levels. *Dinosaur Chess by Mls968 This is a great program. The lessons are interesting, and play levels go from easy to difficult. My 4 and 6 year olds are learning the game, and it's helping novice players like my wife and I too. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to introduce their children to chess! *An excellent app by Adg6 A wonderful app. Ideal for anyone new to chess. It is even fun for experienced chess players. *Highly Recommended - by doled "This is a fantastic chess teaching game. This game alone makes it worth buying an iPad. My three year old now knows the piece names and basic moves. My six year old is well on her way to playing a full game. Our family has had an iPad since the day the iPad was released and this is one of the best apps we have." *Great! - by TonySchleizer "This game has gotten my 5 year old interested in chess. Great tutorials that get progressively harder as skills improve." * Great for getting started - by Milfordthelargebonedgorilla "This has been fantastic for my five year old son...using this in addition to a real board and pieces has helped him immensely in understanding each of the pieces, how they move, their strengths and weaknesses...a terrific way to introduce young ones to the game without overwhelming them" * Great learning tool - by Triplescoop "I have an adopted 7 year old boy with fetal alcohol syndrome. It is very hard for him to learn to play games. Checkers was very hard for him to learn. I thought that chess would be something that he would have to wait to learn. I bought this app even though there were no reviews. So glad I did! What a great teaching tool! I love the mini games that teach the directions that each piece can move. We play slowly but my son can play chess! I recommend this for anyone who wants to learn the basics of the game. This app is for beginners. Great for kids! Thank you to the developers of this app!" *Super! - by Chess player "Hats off to the developers. A fun program for kids." *Ideal For kids - by Kingkot "This game is ideal to teach the kids in the chess."

About

Learn Chinese

This app offers interactive games and activities designed to help children learn Mandarin Chinese. It focuses on virtual language immersion and everyday vocabulary, encouraging early speaking skills through engaging challenges. The content is safe, ad-free, and suitable for offline use.

Highlights
  • Interactive learning games
  • Virtual language immersion
  • Everyday vocabulary
  • Speaking challenges
  • Ad-free and safe for kids
  • Offline learning
Features
Read full description

From the award-winning creators of Studycat for Schools, comes Learn Chinese! The #1 way for kids to learn 中文 (mandarin)! From preschool and beyond, Learn Chinese by Studycat inspires children's innate love of learning with interactive games and activities. Our bite-sized lessons will keep your child motivated while they discover a new language and build bilingual skills for a lifetime! WHY STUDYCAT? • Learn Chinese, in Chinese. All our activities focus on virtual language immersion, which means your child won't be hearing any English, only Chinese! This might be confusing at first, but trust us, it's the best way to learn. • Everyday Language. Our lessons teach words and expressions that kids can apply in their everyday lives, so they can get a head start developing their bilingual abilities. • Get Talking Fast. With our interactive speaking challenges, kids will be encouraged to speak entire words and phrases on their own! The earlier kids start their language-learning journey, the more likely they are to reach proficiency quickly. • Vocal Variety. Our characters' voices use different tones, expressions, and accents so that kids can pick up on the subtleties of pronunciation from different speakers. • Designed by Experts. All our activities are designed by language and early-education experts. Thoughtfully developed lessons will build your child's confidence with every step. • Learner Profiles (coming soon). Create up to four personalized profiles for different family members, allowing tailored learning paths and individual progress tracking. • Safe for Kids & Ad-Free. Parents can rest easy knowing that there are no pesky ads to distract children from their learning. All content is appropriate for ages 3 and up. • Offline Learning. On a plane, at a restaurant, or in a park? No problem! Learn Chinese by Studycat is available for both online and offline use. WHAT ARE PARENTS SAYING? “As a parent trying to raise bilingual children at home, Studycat is a helpful app to start them off and create excitement about the language.” — Fluent in 3 Months “Everything has been thought out carefully and the games and activities are really engaging.” — Bilingual Kidspot “The concept is so simple but extremely effective. I even found myself learning at the same time.” — Bump, Baby & You -- If you like Learn Chinese by Studycat, try it out for 7 days free! Empower your child to learn like never before, and get extras like printable worksheets. If you choose to subscribe, payment will be charged to your Apple account, and your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Auto-renewal may be turned off at any time by going to your settings in the App Store after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy Policy: https://studycat.com/about/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://studycat.com/about/terms-of-use/

Screenshots

Dinosaur Chess4 screens
Learn Chinese4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Learn Chinese at Free against Dinosaur Chess's $4.99. Learn Chinese also leads on rating (4.5 vs 3.8) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 16 months). Dinosaur Chess's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 13.0). On 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

Learn Chinese is free to download; Dinosaur Chess costs $4.99 up front. Learn Chinese sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Dinosaur Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Learn Chinese holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Learn Chinese has 1.2K ratings behind it against 38, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 59% of Dinosaur Chess's written reviews are positive against 82% of Learn Chinese's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dinosaur Chess ships an update every 16 months, Learn Chinese every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Dinosaur Chess versus Learn Chinese: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDinosaur ChessLearn Chinese
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating3.8 (38 ratings)4.5 (1.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews59.0% of reviews82.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings381.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size34 MB226 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUniversis TechnologyStudycat Limited

Customer experience

Dinosaur Chess

All ratings38 ratings
Positive68.4%
Neutral5.3%
Negative26.3%
Written reviews78 reviews
Positive59.0%
Neutral9.0%
Negative32.1%

Learn Chinese

All ratings1,154 ratings
Positive86.5%
Neutral6.2%
Negative7.3%
Written reviews356 reviews
Positive82.3%
Neutral7.0%
Negative10.7%

User reviews

Dinosaur Chess

From 38 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for learning chess
  • 👍 Fun and engaging for kids
  • 👍 Teaches basic moves and tactics
  • 👍 Good for all ages
  • 👍 Educational value

Room to improve

  • 😞 No audio/sound issues
  • 😞 Glitchy and unreliable
  • 😞 Crashing frequently
  • 😞 Poor user interface
  • 😞 Rigid learning pace

Learn Chinese

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and engaging learning games
  • 🚀 Effective for learning vocabulary
  • 💡 Interactive and gamified approach
  • 👍 Great for kids and beginners

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Pronunciation issues with Taiwanese accent
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🔒 Difficulty accessing content across devices
  • 🔍 Lack of content variety and new updates

Bugs and requests

Dinosaur Chess

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • No audio/sound issues reported consistently over many years
  • App crashes frequently, especially at the end of games
  • Pieces disappear or change randomly
  • Game freezes
  • Cannot save progress
Show 2 more
  • Board jitters during lessons
  • Valid moves misread, causing error sounds

Requested features

8 requests
  • Provide developer contact information
  • Add a two-player mode
  • Allow skipping learning modules
  • Separate profiles for multiple users
  • Option to turn off music
Show 3 more
  • Make Kindle app version available
  • Turn off hint and move-back features
  • More accurate finger placement for moves

Learn Chinese

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Subscription issues and double charges
  • Compatibility problems with older devices
  • Crashes and freezes during gameplay

Requested features

4 requests
  • More language options and accents
  • Expanded vocabulary and content
  • Ability to access content across devices
  • Improved pronunciation and audio quality

In-app purchases

None

Dinosaur Chess

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Learn Chinese

Subscriptions6
  • Monthly Subscription1 Month trial$14.991 Month
  • Unlimited Access7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Learn Chinese7 Days trial2 variants$14.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Annual Subscription1 Month trial$59.991 Year
  • Unlimited Access7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Learn Chinese7 Days trial2 variants$59.991 Year
One-time2
  • Animals Lesson$2.99
  • Four Lesson Pack$6.99

Questions

Is Dinosaur Chess free?
Dinosaur Chess costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Learn Chinese free?
Learn Chinese is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dinosaur Chess or Learn Chinese?
Learn Chinese is rated higher. Dinosaur Chess averages 3.8 out of 5 from 38 ratings, while Learn Chinese averages 4.5 from 1.2K ratings.
Do Dinosaur Chess or Learn Chinese have ads?
Neither Dinosaur Chess nor Learn Chinese shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dinosaur Chess or Learn Chinese?
Dinosaur Chess ships an update every 16 months, and Learn Chinese every 2 weeks. Most recently, Dinosaur Chess was updated on November 1, 2026 and Learn Chinese on November 6, 2026.

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