Cold War Chess vs Any War
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cold War Chess
Experience chess with a twist in a fog of war setting. Strategize by building your army, concealing your intentions, and uncovering your opponent's hidden forces. Engage in 63 missions inspired by the Cold War era across six unique factions.
- Fog of war gameplay
- Army building and customization
- Six distinct factions
- 63 strategic missions
- Story campaign inspired by Cold War
- Hidden enemy back rows
Read full descriptionHide full description
The board is set. But half of it is hidden. Cold War Chess takes the strategy of chess and throws it into the fog of war. The enemy's back two rows are concealed until your pieces are close enough to see them. You don't know what's coming. Neither does your opponent. Before the first move, you build your army. Spend your resources, place your pieces where you choose, keep your intentions secret. Misdirection is a weapon. Sometimes fewer pieces are more powerful. This isn't checkmate chess. Reduce the enemy to a lone king and the war is over. Any piece — including your own king — can walk into danger without knowing it. The Cold War plays by different rules. PICK YOUR SIDE USA. USSR. The Alliance. Iron Curtain. Third Way. Dead Hand. Six factions, each with distinct resource budgets and initiative traits. Your faction shapes how you fight before a single piece moves. 63 STRATEGIC MISSIONS Berlin. Cuba. The Pacific. Southeast Asia. Central Asia. Play through fictional flashpoints across a full story campaign inspired by the Cold War era. FOG OF WAR Scout your enemy. Find, fix, and finish their king. The fog lifts only when you're close enough to act. BUILD YOUR ARMY No fixed positions. Spend your budget. Set your trap. Surprise them before the opening move. Start free. Berlin is on us. Unlock the full Cold War when you're ready. Cold War Chess is inspired by historical events. Characters, factions, and dramatized scenarios are fictional. The game does not represent the views of any government, organization, or individual.
Any War
Engage in tactical squad battles on historically accurate maps derived from real geographic data. Command units across four distinct eras, from World War II to the future, utilizing strategic movement and cover.
- Real-world terrain maps
- Four historical eras
- Tactical squad movement orders
- Offline single-player
- Real-time multiplayer
- Touch-optimized controls
Read full descriptionHide full description
Any War drops you into small-unit battles fought on real terrain. Every map is built from actual geographic data for a real historical site, so the ridgeline, the hedgerow, and the river crossing you're fighting over are the real ones. FOUR ERAS, ONE COMMAND SYSTEM - WW2: Brecourt Manor and Carentan, squads and armor in the Normandy bocage - American Civil War: the ridgelines and stone walls of Gettysburg - Medieval: the siege of Chateau Gaillard - Future: Redwood Outpost, a strike team hitting a shield bunker TACTICS THAT MATTER Move your squads with move, fast, sneak, or charge orders. Lay smoke to break line of sight. Set an ambush or dig in and defend. Call in armor. Every order plays out against real terrain, so cover, elevation, and approach actually decide the fight, not just numbers. BUILT FOR TOUCH The whole command interface, tap to select, tap to order, pinch to zoom, is designed for a phone screen first. No mouse-and-keyboard interface squeezed onto glass. PLAY OFFLINE OR HEAD-TO-HEAD Every battle plays solo against the AI with no connection required. Or open Multiplayer to matchmake a live opponent over Game Center and command your side while they command theirs, in real time, with full sound on both ends. Any War is one command system across four wars. Learn it once, refight history anywhere. ANYWHERE ON EARTH The six historic battles are free. One optional purchase unlocks the world map: search or pan to any real place, frame the ground, and fight over it in any era, with every building, wood, road and hedge pulled from OpenStreetMap. Your street, your hometown, the hill behind the farm. Try it free for 7 days first; nothing is charged automatically.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Cold War Chess at 5 against Any War's 1. Any War's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Cold War Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Any War sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Cold War Chess against 5.0 for Any War. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cold War Chess has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cold War Chess | Any War |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 193 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | MICHAEL LAWRENCE STANLEY | LastLap Lab LLC |
Customer experience
Cold War Chess
Any War
In-app purchases
Cold War Chess
- Full Deployment$4.99
Any War
- Anywhere on Earth$4.99









