Comparison

Groops vs Elementary Chess Tactics I

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

Head to head
About

Groops

This puzzle game challenges your mind by matching tiles based on shared or unique attributes. With hundreds of levels and exciting game modes like Time Attack and multiplayer, it offers endless fun and brain stimulation. Compete with friends and unlock achievements.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of levels
  • Time Attack mode
  • Leaderboards
  • Multiplayer mode
  • Unlockable achievements
  • Hint system
Features
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Groops is a puzzle game that will put your mind to the test. Match tiles three at a time based on either shared or completely unique attributes - the number of possibilities will tie your brain in knots! Keep your mind sharp. Play Groops! • Hundreds of levels of increasing difficulties! • Infinite, unlimited gameplay in “Time Attack” mode. Get to the top of the leaderboards and send your friends Challenge requests to beat your score! • Unlock dozens of Achievements! • Compete against friends in multiplayer mode - who can get the most Groops before time runs out? ********** ~ * Starbucks Pick of the Week in 2014 * ~ “This is an example of why we love games. Simple to understand, but very difficult to master.” - iPlayApps “Groops takes match-three to a whole new level.” - Daniel Celeste, AppAdvice.com “This game is more fun and challenging than my job! With a smooth design and intelligent matching, it is everything I look for to keep my mind stimulated during downtime” - HallelP “Fun but challenging game. Can’t put my phone down once I open this app!” - Stefi592 ********** GAMEPLAY MODES LEVELS - Relax, there’s no time pressure. Find all the possible Groops on the screen to advance. You can use Hints if you get stuck (get more by playing TIME ATTACK or from the Powerups menu). TIME ATTACK - Find as many Groops as possible before time runs out! Make 5 Groops in a row to increase your multiplier, but be careful! If you make an invalid Groop, your multiplier gets reset. Rack up as many points as possible because your score gets added to your points bank. ********** OK, HOW DO I PLAY? Match 3 tiles to make a Groop. Tiles have 4 attributes with three options each - SHAPE (square, circle, leaf), COLOR (blue, magenta, yellow), PATTERN (solid fill, striped fill, border only), and SYMBOL (diamond, hourglass, and its 3rd option is no symbol at all). Finding identical tiles is easy, but you’ll eventually need to make Groops based on mixed attributes, and thats where we kick your brain into full-throttle. Groops can be made by matching tiles with identical attributes, by matching all 3 options of 1 attribute, or by matching three different options across multiple attributes. For example: • Solid blue square with no symbol, solid blue circle with no symbol, and a solid blue leaf with no symbol. (Same shape - square, same color - blue, same pattern - solid, all different symbols) • Striped blue square with no symbol, solid magenta circle with a diamond, bordered yellow leaf with an hourglass (All different shapes, all different colors, all different patterns, all different symbols) NOTE: To make a Groop, either all options are the same, or all different across the attributes. For example, these would be invalid: • Solid blue square with no symbol, solid blue square with no symbol, solid blue circle with no symbol (two squares and a circle, instead of three squares, or one square, one circle, and one leaf) • Bordered magenta circle with a diamond, solid yellow circle with a diamond, solid yellow circle with an hourglass (Invalid for two reasons: 1) two yellows and a magenta instead of three yellows or one yellow, one magenta, and one blue. 2) two diamonds and an hourglass instead of three diamonds or one diamond, one hourglass, and one without any symbol at all) ********** Follow @play_groops on Twitter

About

Elementary Chess Tactics I

Master fundamental chess tactics with over 4300 exercises designed for beginners and club players. Learn to identify and exploit common tactical patterns like forks, pins, and discovered checks. Improve your game quality and never miss an elementary combination again.

Highlights
  • Over 4300 tactical exercises
  • Covers forks, pins, discovered checks, and more
  • Interactive lessons with hints and explanations
  • Monitors ELO rating changes
  • Offline play capability
  • Tablet optimized
Features
Read full description

If you are a beginner, it is necessary for you to study simple tactical methods and learn how to employ them! This course includes more than 4300 exercises for beginners on the following tactical methods: Fork, pin, double check, discovered check, annihilation of the opponent's king defense, exploiting a back (1st) rank weakness. If you are a beginner or a club player, this is the program for you! After going through this course you will never miss an elementary combination in a practical game of your own and will be able to improve the quality of your play considerably. This course is in the series Chess King Learn (https://learn.chessking.com/), which is an unprecedented chess teaching method. In the series are included courses in tactics, strategy, openings, middle game, and endgame, split by levels from beginners to experienced players, and even professional players. With the help of this course, you can improve your chess knowledge, learn new tactical tricks and combinations, and consolidate the acquired knowledge into practice. The program acts as a coach who gives tasks to solve and helps to solve them if you get stuck. It will give you hints, explanations and show you even striking refutation of the mistakes you might make. Advantages of the program: • High quality examples, all double-checked for correctness • You need to enter all key moves, required by the teacher • Different levels of complexity of the tasks • Various goals, which need to be reached in the problems • The program gives hint if an error is made • For typical mistaken moves, the refutation is shown • You can play out any position of the tasks against the computer • Interactive theoretical lessons • Structured table of contents • The program monitors the change in the rating (ELO) of the player during the learning process • Test mode with flexible settings • Possibility to bookmark favorite exercises • The application is adapted to the bigger screen of a tablet • The application does not require an internet connection The course includes a free part, in which you can test the program. Lessons offered in the free version is fully functional. They allow you to test the application in real world conditions before releasing the following topics: 1. The fork 1.1. Pawn 1.2. Knight 1.3. Bishop 2. Pin or skewer 2.1. Bishop 2.2. Rook 3. Double check 3.1. Level 5 3.2. Level 6 3.3. Level 7 3.4. Level 8 3.5. Level 9 3.6. Level 10 3.7. Level 11 3.8. Level 12 3.9. Level 13 3.10. Level 14 4. Discovered check 4.1. Level 3 4.2. Level 4 4.3. Level 5 4.4. Level 6 4.5. Level 7 4.6. Level 8 4.7. Level 9 4.8. Level 10 4.9. Level 11 5. Annihilation of defence of a king 5.1. Level 8 5.2. Level 9 5.3. Level 10 5.4. Level 11 5.5. Level 12 5.6. Level 13 5.7. Level 14 5.8. Level 15 5.9. Level 16 5.10. Level 17 5.11. Level 18 5.12. Level 19 5.13. Level 20 5.14. Level 21 5.15. Level 22 5.16. Level 23 6. Annihilation of the back rank defence 6.1. Level 7 6.2. Level 9 6.3. Level 10 6.4. Level 11 6.5. Level 12 6.6. Level 13 6.7. Level 14 6.8. Level 15 6.9. Level 16 6.10. Level 17 6.11. Level 18 6.12. Level 19 6.13. Level 20

Screenshots

Groops4 screens
Elementary Chess Tactics I4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Elementary Chess Tactics I at 4.8 against Groops's 4.3. Elementary Chess Tactics I also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 86%). Groops's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (675 vs 147). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Groops sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Elementary Chess Tactics I sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Elementary Chess Tactics I holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 675 and 147 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Groops's written reviews are positive against 100% of Elementary Chess Tactics I's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Groops ships an update every 8 days, Elementary Chess Tactics I every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Groops versus Elementary Chess Tactics I: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGroopsElementary Chess Tactics I
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (675 ratings)4.8 (147 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings675 — better147
Update frequencyEvery 8 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.08.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTorched Media LLCChess King

Customer experience

Groops

All ratings675 ratings
Positive81.3%
Neutral9.5%
Negative9.2%
Written reviews97 reviews
Positive85.6%
Neutral5.2%
Negative9.3%

Elementary Chess Tactics I

All ratings147 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Groops

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Level 10 of 'brainz needed' bonus pack won't let user progress
  • Crash after time attack finishes
  • Level 45 of easy 4x4 board shows '0/ ' and crashes
  • Win not recognized in local multiplayer

Requested features

4 requests
  • More levels and boards
  • Ability to reset level scores
  • Endless mode
  • Ability to see previous groops found

Elementary Chess Tactics I

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Groops

One-time6
  • pack of 50 Board Shuffles$0.99
  • pack of 10 Hints$0.99
  • pack of 5,000 Points$0.99
Show 3 more
  • 3x3 Bonus Pack 1$1.99
  • pack of 20,000 Points$2.99
  • pack of 100,000 Points$12.99
1 purchases

Elementary Chess Tactics I

One-time1
  • Full course$3.99

Questions

Is Groops free?
Groops is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Elementary Chess Tactics I free?
Elementary Chess Tactics I is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Groops or Elementary Chess Tactics I?
Elementary Chess Tactics I is rated higher. Groops averages 4.3 out of 5 from 675 ratings, while Elementary Chess Tactics I averages 4.8 from 147 ratings.
Do Groops or Elementary Chess Tactics I have ads?
Neither Groops nor Elementary Chess Tactics I shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Groops or Elementary Chess Tactics I?
Groops ships an update every 8 days, and Elementary Chess Tactics I every 3 months. Most recently, Groops was updated on October 14, 2026 and Elementary Chess Tactics I on October 12, 2026.

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