Comparison

Pokermancer vs ChessHole

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

Head to head
About

Pokermancer

Engage in a strategic roguelite poker-puzzle experience by tracing card paths on a 4x4 grid to form poker hands and achieve target scores. Collect items and trinkets to enhance your build and overcome escalating challenges and boss encounters across multiple floors.

Highlights
  • Strategic card path tracing
  • Poker hand formation
  • Roguelite progression
  • Item and trinket collection
  • Boss battles with unique rules
  • Escalating difficulty modes
  • One-handed play
Features
Read full description

Pokermancer is a roguelite poker-puzzle game built for quick, strategic runs. Trace paths through a 4x4 grid of cards to create poker hands and reach the target score. Cleared cards disappear, new cards fall in from your deck, and every path you draw can matter as much as the hand you form. Between rounds, spend your gold in the Break Room on trinkets and items that change how you score. Discover powerful synergies, shape your build, and turn modest hands into massive results. Each floor adds new hazards that change the board, including frozen, burning, and statically charged cards. Every fifth round, a boss changes up the rules. Adapt your strategy or lose the run! Beat all five tables to unlock Overtime, an escalating difficulty mode with ten ranks that remove resources, add challenges, and push your builds even further. Play for free through the first three floors. One purchase unlocks the full game! Features: * 100+ trinkets and 30+ items to collect * 11 unique starting packs each with their own perks and spells * 25+ boss conditions * 7 hazard types to contend with * 10 Overtime difficulty ranks per pack * Keep playing in an endless mode beyond floor 5 * Portrait orientation and one-handed play * No ads, no loot boxes, no pay-to-win; one purchase unlocks the entire game and all future content

About

ChessHole

This minimalist puzzle game reimagines chess pieces as tools to navigate a disappearing board. The objective is to clear all unoccupied tiles without trapping your pieces. It offers a unique challenge beyond traditional chess, focusing on strategic movement and board preservation.

Highlights
  • Disappearing board mechanic
  • Hand-authored puzzle campaign
  • Daily shareable puzzles
  • Puzzle Club archive
  • Weekly puzzle packs
  • Unlimited hints
  • Generated practice boards
Read full description

ChessHole is a minimalist chess-inspired puzzle game where every move destroys the square you leave behind. This is not normal chess. There is no checkmate, no opponent, and no opening theory. Instead, each chess piece becomes a movement tool in a disappearing-floor puzzle. Move the rook down a corridor, jump a knight over broken ground, preserve a bishop diagonal, and plan the final safe squares before the board collapses behind you. The goal is simple: clear every unoccupied tile without stranding your pieces. Features: - Hand-authored puzzle campaign - Daily puzzle with a shareable path card - Puzzle Club archive for past daily puzzles - Weekly puzzle packs for subscribers - Unlimited hints with Puzzle Club - King, rook, bishop, and knight movement personalities - Drag or tap pieces with fast undo and restart - Generated boards for fresh practice Every move costs a square. Spend the board wisely. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Pokermancer4 screens
ChessHole4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ChessHole at 5.0 against Pokermancer's 4.6. Pokermancer's advantage is ratings volume (151 vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 days vs weekly). 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. Pokermancer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ChessHole sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ChessHole holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pokermancer has 151 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pokermancer ships an update every 3 days, ChessHole weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Pokermancer versus ChessHole: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPokermancerChessHole
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (151 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings151 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size110 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAdam BrayPalash Oswal

Customer experience

Pokermancer

All ratings151 ratings
Positive91.4%
Neutral2.0%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews89 reviews
Positive87.6%
Neutral6.7%
Negative5.6%

ChessHole

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pokermancer

One-time1
  • Full Game Unlock$4.99
3 purchases

ChessHole

Subscriptions2
  • Puzzle Club Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Puzzle Club Annual$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • ChessHole Full Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is Pokermancer free?
Pokermancer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ChessHole free?
ChessHole is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pokermancer or ChessHole?
ChessHole is rated higher. Pokermancer averages 4.6 out of 5 from 151 ratings, while ChessHole averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Pokermancer or ChessHole have ads?
Neither Pokermancer nor ChessHole shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pokermancer or ChessHole?
Pokermancer ships an update every 3 days, and ChessHole weekly. Most recently, Pokermancer was updated on October 22, 2026 and ChessHole on October 11, 2026.

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