Comparison

Drop Duchy vs ChessDuo

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

Head to head
About

Drop Duchy

Experience a unique blend of deckbuilding, puzzle, and rogue-lite gameplay. Build a realm by strategically placing tiles, gather resources, and lead your troops to reclaim enemy territory. Each run offers a fresh challenge with procedural generation and meta-progression.

Highlights
  • Deckbuilding, puzzle, and rogue-lite gameplay mix
  • Strategic tile placement for resource maximization
  • Real-time strategy combat and territory reclamation
  • Procedurally generated game experiences
  • Meta-progression with over 90 challenges
  • Over 110 unique cards for deck building
  • Three playable factions: The Duchy, The Order, The Republic
Features
Read full description

[TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!] A beloved PC game, now coming to mobile. Metacritic: 83. Very Positive on STEAM - 90%. Drop Duchy takes the iconic geometric puzzle gameplay we all know and love and gives it a fresh perspective: instead of simply clearing lines, you build a realm. A mix of deckbuilding, puzzle and rogue-lite, designed to hone your appetite as a block-stacking tactician. Place tile pieces as you would in a block-dropping game, but align them to maximize their activation rules. Set the right structures next to lush forests, wild rivers and grassy plains to pull out maximum resources and units. Then gather your troops, reclaim the regions under enemy control, and storm the enemy fortress along branching, decision-filled paths. Let your castle take too much damage and the run ends - but defeat is not the end: jump straight back in with a new strategy, and use the experience gained to unlock even more content. Grow in power with over 110 unique cards, trade with markets and guilds, and climb a meta progression of over 90 missions tied to three playable factions: The Duchy, The Order and The Republic. Adapt, conquer, and keep the action moving! FEATURES * An original mix of puzzle gameplay and real-time strategy * A brand new game experience with each run thanks to procedural generation * Play with Factions: The Duchy, The Order, The Republic * Meta progression: over 90 challenges designed to help you through your journey * Build the perfect deck with over 110 unique cards * An elegant and charming art direction to please your eyes * An engaging and ever-evolving soundtrack to please your ears * Choose your path between lakes, glades, forests, villages, guilds… and more!

About

ChessDuo

Features
Read full description

Chess Duo is chess for two people, wherever you are. Start a room, share a short code, and play live on two iPhones. Or play pass and play on one phone, take on the computer, solve daily puzzles, and set up any position on the analysis board. Colors are assigned at random when the second player joins. You can FaceTime while you play so you can talk through moves. Built-in coaching helps beginners: a move guide, optional private hints, a piece guide, and a computer that can play a turn for you. Turn those assists off in Settings if you want a clean match. When a game ends you get a scorecard with accuracy by move, and Past games keeps those reviews on the phone. English, Portuguese, and Spanish are supported. No ads. No account signup. Just a name and a room code.

Screenshots

Drop Duchy4 screens
ChessDuo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ChessDuo at none against Drop Duchy's 2. Drop Duchy's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence and ads 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. Drop Duchy sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. ChessDuo asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drop Duchy ships an update weekly, ChessDuo every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 14, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Drop Duchy versus ChessDuo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrop DuchyChessDuo
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (81 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings81 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.1 GB5 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperDoghowl Games Ltd.Michael Shobitan

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Drop Duchy

One-time2
  • Base Game Offer$8.99
  • Base Game$9.99
None

ChessDuo

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drop Duchy free?
Drop Duchy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ChessDuo free?
ChessDuo is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Drop Duchy or ChessDuo have ads?
Neither Drop Duchy nor ChessDuo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drop Duchy or ChessDuo?
Drop Duchy ships an update weekly, and ChessDuo every 5 days. Most recently, Drop Duchy was updated on November 14, 2026 and ChessDuo on November 10, 2026.

Other comparisons