Comparison

Grid Shift vs Chess Reels

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

Head to head
About

Grid Shift

Features
Read full description

Grid Shift - The twisted offspring of Word Search and a Rubik's Cube -------------------------------------------------------------------- What do I mean when I say 'The twisted offspring of a Word Search and a Rubik's cube'? Well let me explain … * Word Search - We all know this. A grid of seemingly random letters in which words are hidden that you need to find. * Rubik’s Cube - That annoying cube that you need to move the rows and columns around to match the colours on each side. Grid Shift takes the elements of both of these puzzle types and splices them together. A level starts with a grid of seemingly random letters (sound familiar?). Underneath the grid is the list of words that you need to find, again much like a Word Search. The twist is that the letters are not in the correct places to form the words! What you need to do is move the rows and columns around to make the words. And like the famed cube of misery, you will almost certainly have to temporarily break some words while making others. Game Play ----------- You are presented with a grid of letters. The earlier levels are a 4x4 grid, as you progress through the levels the size of the grid increases until you get to the 10x10 levels. Levels 1 through to 6 are designed to teach you the game. Beneath the grid are the words you need to find. Words can be found across the grid (left -> right), and down the grid. The words have to be found in the direction indicated. Finding a word in the wrong direction doesn’t count. If you look at the screenshots Duck has to been found DOWN while dog has to be found ACROSS. You use the buttons around the grid to Shift the rows and column in order to move the letters around the grid. When you find a word, the background of the tile will change colour. To complete the level you have to have all the words highlighted at the same time. This will also unlock the next level. In a lot of cases there is no fixed location the words have to be found in. If you take level 1, it is possible to find the word dog in 8 different locations to complete the level. As the complexity of the grids increases sometimes a word has to be in a specific place to be able to find all the other words. There are almost 200 level of annoying, frustrating, and yet somehow satisfying levels to complete. Join the Facebook group to get hints and tips. https://www.facebook.com/groups/gridshift

About

Chess Reels

Engage with an endless stream of chess puzzles, similar to a social media feed. Improve your rating, compare your performance with others, and play with friends in various game modes. This app makes daily chess training addictive and rewarding.

Highlights
  • Endless puzzle feed
  • Personalized rating tracking
  • Performance comparison
  • Play with friends
  • Ranked, Practice, and Friends modes
  • Over 1 million puzzles
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Chess Reels turns puzzle training into something you actually want to do every day. Swipe through an endless feed of over 1 million chess puzzles — one after another, just like your favourite social app. No menus, no friction. Just you, the board, and the next move. Train Like You Scroll Puzzles flow naturally as you swipe. Each one rated, tracked, and tailored to your level. Before you know it, you've solved 50 puzzles and your rating is climbing! Compete & Compare Every puzzle shows the average solve time. Beat it and see exactly how you stack up against players worldwide. Your Rating, Always Moving Earn or lose rating points with every solve. Watch your number rise in real time — that +12 hit never gets old. Play With Friends Follow friends, see their puzzle history, compare stats, and challenge each other to beat your scores. Ranked, Practice & Friends Modes Whether you want serious rating games or casual practice, there's a mode for your mood. Sharpen your tactics. Obsess over the board. Chess Reels makes improving at chess genuinely addictive. Over 1 million puzzles. Infinite improvement. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://chessreels.app/privacy

Screenshots

Grid Shift4 screens
Chess Reels4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Grid Shift at none against Chess Reels's 3. Grid Shift also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17). Chess Reels's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence 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

Both are free to download. Chess Reels sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Grid Shift asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Grid Shift versus Chess Reels: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrid ShiftChess Reels
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.5 (85 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings—85 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 5 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB111 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHaskins.io ltdEmpire Dating Apps Limited

In-app purchases

None

Grid Shift

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Chess Reels

Subscriptions3
  • Chess Reels Pro Weekly3 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • Chess Reels Pro Monthly3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Chess Reels Pro Annual3 Days trial$14.991 Year

Questions

Is Grid Shift free?
Grid Shift is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Reels free?
Chess Reels is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Grid Shift or Chess Reels have ads?
Grid Shift shows ads; Chess Reels does not.
Which is updated more often, Grid Shift or Chess Reels?
Grid Shift ships an update every 5 days, and Chess Reels every 5 days. Most recently, Grid Shift was updated on November 3, 2026 and Chess Reels on November 9, 2026.

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