# joygo vs 中国象棋

The clearest difference is rating: joygo at 4.6 against 中国象棋's 3.8. joygo also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months) and review sentiment (71% vs 55%). 中国象棋's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. joygo sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. 中国象棋 asks for nothing beyond the download.

joygo holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 105 and 91 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of joygo's written reviews are positive against 55% of 中国象棋's.

joygo ships an update monthly, 中国象棋 every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | joygo | 中国象棋 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (105 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/joygo/id499791471/reviews)** | [3.8 (91 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id504275369/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **105** | 91 |
| Positive reviews | **71.0% of reviews** | 54.5% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Monthly** | Every 5 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 185 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **11.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [延正 王](https://appshunter.io/developer/499791474) | [况 郭](https://appshunter.io/developer/499174210) |

## What reviewers say

### joygo

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/joygo/id499791471)

Play Go and Chinese Chess with AI opponents, solve puzzles, and analyze games. Features include online matches, AI reviews with win-rate graphs, and photo recognition to convert board images into playable positions. Suitable for all skill levels, from beginners to experienced players.

**Highlights:** Online Go matches, AI opponents and analysis, Life-and-death puzzles (tsumego), Chinese Chess (Xiangqi), Game record study, Photo recognition for board positions

**Features:** Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| one month VIP right | $0.99 | one-time |
| Purchase 100 diamonds | $1.99 | one-time |
| VIP 3 month | $2.99 | one-time |
| To close advertisement. | $8.99 | one-time |
| VIP 6 month | $11.99 | one-time |
| VIP one year | $20.99 | one-time |
| Purchase 2000 diamonds | $29.99 | one-time |
| Unlimited playing with  AI | $49.99 | one-time |
| Purchase 5000 diamonds | $69.99 | one-time |
| Purchase 10000 diamonds | $159.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- ⭐ Excellent game collection
- 🎮 Good gameplay experience
- 📚 Helpful game reviews and analysis
- 🤖 Challenging AI opponent

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🌐 Language barrier for non-Chinese users
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🤖 AI difficulty level could be improved
- 📝 Poor English translations

**Reported bugs**

- Registration process not working for some users
- Freezing issues when trying to pass during gameplay
- Inconsistent scoring and result display
- Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions

**Requested features**

- Add support for multiple board sizes
- Improve online multiplayer functionality
- Provide more detailed gameplay instructions
- Implement undo/redo feature


### 中国象棋

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/id504275369)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Free and ad-free
- 👍 Simple and user-friendly interface
- 👍 Good online matchmaking
- 👍 Strong AI opponent
- 👍 Classic and free to play

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Game disconnects frequently
- 🐛 Chat messages not received
- 🐛 Unfair game rules/judgement
- 🐛 Poor screen adaptation on iPad
- 🐛 Potential cheating detected

**Reported bugs**

- Checkmate judgment logic may be incorrect
- Game disconnects at crucial moments
- Cannot retrieve forgotten password
- App slows down the device
- Long checks are not always a draw

**Requested features**

- Add back the 'flip chess' game mode
- Add English language support
- Improve chat functionality
- Add iCloud automatic synchronization
- Increase font size of pieces


## Frequently asked questions

### Is joygo free?

joygo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is 中国象棋 free?

中国象棋 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, joygo or 中国象棋?

joygo is rated higher. joygo averages 4.6 out of 5 from 105 ratings, while 中国象棋 averages 3.8 from 91 ratings.

### Do joygo or 中国象棋 have ads?

Both joygo and 中国象棋 show ads.

### Which is updated more often, joygo or 中国象棋?

joygo ships an update monthly, and 中国象棋 every 5 months. Most recently, joygo was updated on November 6, 2026 and 中国象棋 on November 1, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*