Esfera Chess vs Catchup
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.
Catchup
Master a beautiful abstract strategy game by connecting hexes to create the largest group. Features include a challenging AI, online multiplayer, and pass-and-play options. Learn the simple rules and strive for difficult mastery.
- Interactive tutorial
- Challenging AI opponent
- Online turn-based multiplayer
- Two-player pass-and-play
- Minimalist graphics
- Customizable colors
- Leaderboards & Achievements
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Catchup is a simple game of surprising turnarounds. "Catchup is as elegant as a game can reasonably be, presented in a marvelously user-friendly way.” -Pocket Tactics (5-star review) "If you're even a little bit into strategy games, you need to get some Catchup all over your mobile device." -Touch Arcade (4 & 1/2 star review) Can you have the largest group at the end of the game? Connect your hexes to master this beautiful abstract strategy game. Features: - an interactive tutorial to teach you how to play - a challenging AI opponent whose difficulty changes as you play - online turn-based multiplayer via Game Center - two-player pass-and-play on the same device - beautiful and haunting music by Tori Kamal - minimalist graphics with customizable colors - Game Center Leaderboards & Achievements - simple and easy to learn rules and gameplay - difficult to master strategy Here are all the rules: 1. One player plays all the hexes of one color and the other player plays all the hexes of the other color. The first player begins by claiming 1 empty hex for their color. 2. Starting with the second player, each player must claim 1 or 2 hexes on their turn. 3. If the largest group of hexes at the end of a turn is larger than the largest group of hexes at the beginning of that turn (regardless of color), the next player may claim up to 3 hexes on their turn. (This does not apply after the first player claims a single hex in step 1 above.) 4. The game ends when the board is full. The player with the largest group wins. If the players’ largest groups are the same size, compare their second-largest groups, and so on, until you come to a pair which aren’t the same size. Whoever owns the larger of the two wins. Catchup is an original Board Game designed by Nick Bentley.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Catchup at 4.7 against Esfera Chess's 4.4. On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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.
Catchup holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Esfera Chess's written reviews are positive against 88% of Catchup's.
Esfera Chess ships an update every 92 months, Catchup every 101 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Esfera Chess | Catchup |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (11 ratings) | 4.7 (11 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 84.0% of reviews | 88.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11 | 11 |
| Update frequency | Every 92 months — better | Every 101 months |
| Ads | No | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Squz | Martin Grider |
Customer experience
Esfera Chess
Catchup
In-app purchases
Esfera Chess
No in-app purchases
Catchup
No in-app purchases









