Shotgun King vs PatternMate
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shotgun King
Experience a unique twist on chess where you command a king armed with a shotgun. Fight your way through enemy pieces, strategically reload, and upgrade your abilities to reclaim your kingdom. This roguelike chess adventure offers challenging gameplay and extensive replayability.
- Chess with a shotgun mechanic
- Roguelike progression with upgrades
- 15 difficulty ranks
- Unlockable cards
- Over 100 achievements
- Endless and chase modes
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Chess, but all your army has gone over to the white side, leaving you with nothing but your royal shotgun and your wounded pride. Carried by your dark folly, you decide it's time to teach those white pieces to fear the Shotgun King. Every turn, you may either move your king or shoot at enemy pieces, after what you'll need to move again to reload your shotgun. Avoid checkmate and kill the enemy king to complete the floor. After each floor, you may choose between two random combinations of one upgrade for you and one upgrade for the other side. Choose wisely and keep on winning floors and you just may get your kingdom back. Runs may take ~20 minutes to complete. The game features 15 ranks of difficulty, unlockable cards, over 100 achievements to complete, an endless mode, and now a chase mode where you get continually assailed from all sides!
PatternMate
Sharpen your chess vision with over 51,000 offline tactics puzzles. Choose from three training modes to improve your rating, test your limits, or focus on specific weaknesses. Enjoy an ad-free, subscription-free experience with all puzzles included.
- 51,200 chess puzzles
- Three game modes: Tactics, Survival, Practice
- Adaptive puzzle difficulty
- Over 40 tactic themes
- Customizable practice rating range
- Offline functionality
- No ads or subscriptions
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Recognize tactical patterns, then play the winning move. Train with 51,200 included puzzles, spaced repetition, Tactics, Survival, Storm, Practice and Vision, and a guided daily routine. Play offline, without an account, ads, subscriptions or in-app purchases. Customize the board, pieces, sounds and haptics. Two iOS widgets show your streak and tactics rating. Game Center needs an internet connection.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: PatternMate at 90% against Shotgun King's 66%. PatternMate also leads on price ($3.99 vs $6.99). Shotgun King's advantage is chart position (#93 vs unranked). On update cadence, 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
Shotgun King costs $6.99 and PatternMate $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Shotgun King ships an update every 5 days, PatternMate weekly. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.
| Parameter | Shotgun King | PatternMate |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | $3.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (709 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.1% of reviews | 90.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 709 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #93 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 468 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Plug In Digital | Max Schneider |
Customer experience
Shotgun King
PatternMate
In-app purchases
Shotgun King
No in-app purchases
PatternMate
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Shotgun King free?
Is PatternMate free?
Do Shotgun King or PatternMate have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shotgun King or PatternMate?
Other comparisons
