ChessCraft vs Shogi 4×4
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ChessCraft
Explore a chess sandbox where you can customize boards, rules, and pieces. Create unique chess variants, play against an AI, or challenge friends online. Discover and share your custom chess creations with a global community.
- Customizable chess boards and pieces
- AI computer opponent
- Online multiplayer with friends
- Adventure mode with built-in boards
- Chess variant database
- Create new pieces and tile rules
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Never play the same game of chess again! ChessCraft is a chess sandbox with an AI computer opponent. Customize chess boards, rules, and pieces. Share your creations online. Play your friends online, or play the computer, or choose from one of 75 built-in chess boards in adventure mode. ChessCraft is also the world's largest chess variant database. https://www.chesscraft.ca Many chess AI mobile games already exist, but only ChessCraft allows the player to create such wacky boards and pieces and immediately play a decent computer opponent. Create new pieces with any combination of the 8 bishop or rook slides, plus a 7x7 grid of knight-like hops. Pieces can also enhance or restrict nearby pieces. Create new boards with any enabled or disabled tile up to 16x16. Place promotion rules for any piece, anywhere. Place tile rules like witch windows (teleporters), sanctuaries, and more. The computer AI opponent then uses concepts from computer science and graph theory to understand your creations and play against you. When you share a board, your friends can play the AI too. Sharing creates a new web page just for you, like this: https://www.chesscraft.ca/design?id=shape-variant1 Visit the website and send me an email if you have any feedback or questions. If you like the game, please rate it!
Shogi 4×4
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A shogi game played on a 4x4 grid of 16 squares, with the placement of pieces different each time. It features a "10-second mode" that tests your ability to make split-second decisions in a short amount of time, and a "3-minute mode" that tests your ability to think ahead and read ahead. ■Rule ① The shogi board has 4 squares vertically and 4 squares horizontally, for a total of 16 squares. ② There are four pieces, including the 王将" and "歩", which are assigned to each player and placed on the board. ③ There are two time modes: "10-second mode", where players have 10 seconds per move, and "3-minute mode", where players lose when the time limit is set at 3 minutes. ■Online Match ・You can compete online against people from all over the world. ・You can share a room pass and play against friends you know. ・In the case of friend matches, there is also a spectator mode.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Shogi 4×4 at Free against ChessCraft's $5.99. Shogi 4×4 also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 9 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). ChessCraft's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#75 vs unranked). On in-app purchases 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
Shogi 4×4 is free to download; ChessCraft costs $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ChessCraft ships an update every 9 months, Shogi 4×4 weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ChessCraft | Shogi 4×4 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (9 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 90.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 9 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | #75 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 166 MB | 114 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stuart Spence | Takuma Takahashi |
In-app purchases
ChessCraft
No in-app purchases
Shogi 4×4
No in-app purchases









