Comparison

Leon's Mahjong vs Almost Chess

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

Head to head
About

Leon's Mahjong

Experience a classic Mahjong solitaire game with a unique retro pixel art style. Enjoy 63 handcrafted boards, offline play, and no intrusive ads or in-app purchases. This timeless game offers a peaceful, ad-free experience.

Highlights
  • Retro pixel art graphics
  • 63 handcrafted Mahjong boards
  • Offline play
  • No ads or popups
  • No in-app purchases
  • Family sharing
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

This is a calm, handcrafted Mahjong solitaire experience, designed to help you unwind. Your quiet moment at the end of the day. Beautifully designed boards, rendered in a warm retro pixel-art style, and the simple satisfaction of solving them. What you get • 99 handcrafted, always-solvable boards, from quick sessions to deeper challenges. • 5 tilesets to choose from, switchable in real time, with more on the way. • Unlimited hints and undos, so you never get stuck. • Over an hour of original music by composer Bjørn Lynne. • Play in 15 languages across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. • Now you can also play with an MFi game controller! • Buy once, all future updates included. No ads. No tracking. No in-app purchases. No internet required. Why this game exists This game is a tribute to my father, who introduced me to Mahjong in the 1980s. He passed away before my son Leon was born, so they never met. Leon helped shape the game as its youngest (and loudest) stakeholder. In a small way, this game became a bridge between them. Three generations. One love for games. Lucas and Leon

About

Almost Chess

Experience chess with a randomized board layout, offering a fresh tactical challenge for all skill levels. Adapt to new puzzles daily and test your strategic thinking in this unpredictable version of the classic game.

Highlights
  • Randomized board layouts
  • Single player AI challenges
  • Two player local mode
  • Daily puzzling positions
  • Valid move highlighting
  • ELO rating system
Features
Read full description

A familiar game. An unfamiliar board. Almost Chess is a chess variant with randomized starting positions, so you can focus on the position in front of you instead of memorized openings. PLAY YOUR NEXT MOVE Face AI opponents selected for your in-game rating. Tap a piece to see its legal moves, find tactical opportunities and work toward checkmate. Your rating tracks progress inside Almost Chess; it is not an official chess rating. A NEW CHALLENGE TO RETURN TO Try the daily challenge with three attempts per day. Weekly challenges rotate board restrictions for a different way to play. In the Gauntlet, each win brings a stronger opponent; a loss ends your run. Gauntlet games do not allow undo. MAKE THE BOARD YOURS Explore random boards with no queens, mirrored positions, pawns or extra chaos. Choose from 12 board themes and track your statistics and achievements. LANGUAGE OPTIONS Play in English, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese. Follow your device language or choose a language in Settings. ADS AND OPTIONAL PURCHASE Full-screen ads may appear between completed games. Eligible single-player games start with one free undo; you can choose to watch a rewarded ad for one more undo when an ad is available. The optional one-time Remove Ads purchase removes ads and gives unlimited undos in eligible single-player games. It does not add undo to the Gauntlet.

Screenshots

Leon's Mahjong4 screens
Almost Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Leon's Mahjong at 84% against Almost Chess's 33%. Leon's Mahjong also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#107 vs unranked). Almost Chess's advantage is price (Free vs $0.99). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Almost Chess is free to download; Leon's Mahjong costs $0.99 up front. Almost Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Leon's Mahjong asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Leon's Mahjong ships an update monthly, Almost Chess fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Leon's Mahjong versus Almost Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLeon's MahjongAlmost Chess
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (69 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews84.1% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings69 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#107 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size328 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLucas Dimahourafter

Customer experience

Leon's Mahjong

All ratings69 ratings
Positive89.9%
Neutral1.4%
Negative8.7%
Written reviews88 reviews
Positive84.1%
Neutral4.5%
Negative11.4%

Almost Chess

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

In-app purchases

None

Leon's Mahjong

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Almost Chess

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99

Questions

Is Leon's Mahjong free?
Leon's Mahjong costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Almost Chess free?
Almost Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Leon's Mahjong or Almost Chess have ads?
Neither Leon's Mahjong nor Almost Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Leon's Mahjong or Almost Chess?
Leon's Mahjong ships an update monthly, and Almost Chess fortnightly. Most recently, Leon's Mahjong was updated on October 22, 2026 and Almost Chess on October 16, 2026.

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