Comparison

SumoChess vs Scatterbox

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

Head to head
About

SumoChess

Features
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SumoChess is a free app offering a Chess variant created by avid Chess players, looking for a twist in the rules that would add fun and novelty to the traditional Chess game. In SumoChess you can only take pieces by pushing them off the board. Only the king can still take. That makes it more complex and intense than chess, as most of your pieces stay active, and you can have fun playing tricky moves by a well-placed push.

About

Scatterbox

Features
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Scatterbox is a game of pure deduction. A handful of atoms are hidden in a grid. You fire a beam in from any edge, see where it comes out, and reason your way to what must be inside. No reflexes. No timers. No luck. Every board has exactly one answer, and it is always findable. There are only four things a beam can do: โ€ข Miss โ€” straight in, straight out the far side. That lane is clear. โ€ข Hit โ€” the beam never comes back. It ran into an atom head-on. โ€ข Deflection โ€” passing an atom on the diagonal turns the beam ninety degrees. โ€ข Reflection โ€” two atoms turn it back out the square it entered. Learn those four and you have learned the whole game. In the Ray Lab the atoms are visible: place them anywhere, fire beams, and watch every path bend, bounce, or vanish. BOARD OF THE DAY One puzzle a day, the same for everyone, built from the date. The difficulty rotates through the week โ€” gentle on Monday, brutal by the weekend. Solve it to build a streak; miss a day and the streak resets. Your best streak is always on the home screen. FREE PLAY Set your own board โ€” width, height, and atom count, up to 12ร—12 on iPhone and 16ร—16 on iPad โ€” or switch on random mode and get a fresh shape every game. BUILT FOR THINKING โ€ข Every marker is numbered, so you are never guessing at colors โ€ข Dark mode and a color-blind friendly palette โ€ข An optional timer if you want the pressure, off by default โ€ข "Check" your guesses before you commit โ€” for a small score cost โ€ข Reveal shows the full path every beam actually took Your score is the number of beams you fired plus a penalty for wrong guesses. Lower is better. There is no way to lose โ€” only to solve it in fewer beams next time. Scatterbox plays entirely on your device. No account, no sign-in, nothing to sync. It works on a plane. Scatterbox is an independent game in the tradition of Black Box, the deduction puzzle designed by Eric Solomon in 1976. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the original game or its publishers. Free to play, with ads. A one-time "Remove Ads" purchase turns them off for good. Privacy Policy: https://scatterbox.ggates1020.com/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://scatterbox.ggates1020.com/terms-of-use/

Screenshots

SumoChess4 screens
Scatterbox4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SumoChess at none against Scatterbox's 1. SumoChess also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.5). Scatterbox's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 13 months). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Scatterbox sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SumoChess asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SumoChess ships an update every 13 months, Scatterbox weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 2 level
SumoChess versus Scatterbox: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSumoChessScatterbox
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsWeekly โ€” better
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 โ€” better26.5
Further details โ€” not scored
Size20 MB6 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperAnnapurnApp Technologies UG haftungsbeschranktGEORGE,HOWARD GATES

In-app purchases

None

SumoChess

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Scatterbox

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99

Questions

Is SumoChess free?
SumoChess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Scatterbox free?
Scatterbox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SumoChess or Scatterbox have ads?
Scatterbox shows ads; SumoChess does not.
Which is updated more often, SumoChess or Scatterbox?
SumoChess ships an update every 13 months, and Scatterbox weekly. Most recently, SumoChess was updated on November 4, 2026 and Scatterbox on October 31, 2026.

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