Esfera Chess vs Pawn Game
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Esfera Chess
Experience chess on a unique 3D spherical board with 132 hexagonal and pentagonal cells. Enjoy familiar pieces with entirely new strategic possibilities due to the curved surface. Play against AI, a friend locally, or learn with an interactive tutorial.
- 132-cell geodesic sphere board
- Familiar chess pieces, new strategy
- Local AI and pass-and-play modes
- Interactive 10-step tutorial
- Animated piece movements
- Full iPad support
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Chess reimagined on a sphere. Two armies clash on a geodesic world of 132 hexagonal and pentagonal cells — familiar pieces, completely new strategy. Every piece you know from chess is here — kings, queens, rooks, bishops, knights, and pawns — but the curved surface changes everything. There are no edges, no corners, and no safe back rank. Attacks come from every direction. PLAY LOCALLY Challenge the built-in AI, or pass-and-play with a friend on the same device. Pick your color before every game. LEARN An interactive 10-step tutorial teaches every piece type hands-on. Tap a piece to see where it can move. An in-game rules reference is always available. FEATURES - 132-cell geodesic sphere with translucent surface - Pinch to zoom, swipe to rotate, two-finger twist - Animated piece movements with auto-rotating globe - Cinematic intro sequence - Sound effects for moves, captures, and check - Full iPad support - No ads. No pay-to-win. Just chess on a sphere.
Pawn Game
This strategic game simplifies chess to focus solely on pawn mechanics. It's designed for beginners to learn core rules and for experienced players to hone pawn strategy and endgame skills against an adaptive AI.
- Beginner-friendly pawn rules
- Pawn structure practice
- Adaptive AI engine
- Unlockable achievements
- Distraction-free 2D board
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Pawn Game is a strategic, fast-paced 2D chess-pawn board game. Easy to learn yet deep in strategy, face off against an adaptive AI in a battle of pawn tactics and breakthroughs! NEW IN PAWNGAME PRO: • Real-time Coaching: Instant tactical alerts that identify blunders, mistakes, and missed winning opportunities. • Move Hints: Stuck? Get a hint for the next move. • Ad-Free Experience: Enjoy uninterrupted, distraction-free games. KEY FEATURES: • Clean, modern chess-pawn mechanics with breakthrough and capture rules. • 3 Adaptive AI Difficulty Levels • Move Undo support for learning and perfecting strategies. • Offline play: Enjoy matches anywhere, anytime. Master the board and lead your pawns to victory!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Pawn Game at 5.0 against Esfera Chess's 4.4. Pawn Game also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 92 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 84%). Esfera Chess's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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.
Pawn Game holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Esfera Chess's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pawn Game's.
Esfera Chess ships an update every 92 months, Pawn Game every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Esfera Chess | Pawn Game |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (11 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 84.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 92 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Squz | Pixel Shastra LLC |
Customer experience
Esfera Chess
Pawn Game
In-app purchases
Esfera Chess
No in-app purchases
Pawn Game
No in-app purchases







