Chess & Variants vs Hexagonal Chess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess & Variants
Explore a vast collection of chess variations beyond the classic game. Play against AI offline or challenge real players online with features like saved games and leaderboards.
- 45 chess variations
- Play against AI offline
- Online multiplayer
- Create/join tables
- Invite friends
- Full rules description
- Replay saved games
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* Open up your Chess horizon * Jocly's Chess Variants is by far the most complete mobile application for playing Chess variations. In addition to regular Chess, it offers 45 variants, all of them featuring: - artificial intelligence to play alone / offline - server connectivity to play real people, create or join tables, invite friends - full rules description - live games are saved and can be replayed - ELO based leaderboard - and many more ... Supported variants: - Classic Chess - XiangQi (Chinese Chess) - Gardner Chess - MiniChess4x4 - MiniChess4x5 - MicroChess - Baby Chess - Malett Chess - Los Alamos - Chess Attack - Courier (Middle-Age Chess) - Makruk (Thai Chess) - Shako (10x10 board with elephants and cannons) - Shatranj - Raumschach (5x5x5) - Glinski Chess (hexagonal) - Brusky Chess (hexagonal) - DeVasa Chess (hexagonal) - McCooey Chess (hexagonal) - Shafran (hexagonal) - Modern circular Chess (on a round board) - Byzantine Chess (on a round board, as played in the Xth century) - 3D Chess (6x8x3) - Cylinder Chess - RollerBall (Chess on an unusual board) - Chess960 (randomized start position) - Metamachy (big board) - Capablanca Chess - Carrera Chess - Gothic Chess - Janus Chess - Grand Chess - Modern Chess - Chancellor Chess - Wildebeest Chess - Smess (give it a try) - Demi Chess (half a regular board) - Romanchenko Chess - Amazon Chess - Duke of Rutland Chess - Gustav III Chess - Hyderabad Chess - Kaiser Chess - SultanGame Chess - Reformed Courier Chess - Tutti-Frutti Chess
Hexagonal Chess
Experience a unique twist on classic chess with six-directional movement and an expanded board. Challenge a friend in person or test your skills against an AI opponent.
- Six-directional piece movement
- Expanded board with additional colors
- Play against a friend locally
- Challenge an AI opponent
- Unique chess variant
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New location, new environment, same rules 50% more directions to move pieces 42% more board fields (with additional color) You can play with a friend but not online, so pretend it is 1990 and actually meet people or you can challenge an AI bot
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hexagonal Chess at none against Chess & Variants's 1. Hexagonal Chess also leads on update cadence (every 6 months vs every 17 months) and review sentiment (67% vs 56%). Chess & Variants's advantage is rating (4.1 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (14 vs 3). On price, ads, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Chess & Variants sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hexagonal Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.
Chess & Variants holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 3 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of Chess & Variants's written reviews are positive against 67% of Hexagonal Chess's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Chess & Variants ships an update every 17 months, Hexagonal Chess every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess & Variants | Hexagonal Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (14 ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 55.6% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 17 months | Every 6 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 6.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ACLAP | Konrad Leszczyski |
Customer experience
Chess & Variants
Hexagonal Chess
In-app purchases
Chess & Variants
- Remove ads$0.99
Hexagonal Chess
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Chess & Variants free?
Is Hexagonal Chess free?
Which has better reviews, Chess & Variants or Hexagonal Chess?
Do Chess & Variants or Hexagonal Chess have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chess & Variants or Hexagonal Chess?
Other comparisons
