Comparison

OpenMate vs Mahjong Universe

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

Head to head
About

OpenMate

Master chess openings and play against a powerful engine with integrated coaching. This app offers a private, offline experience with visual guidance and strategy tips to improve your game. Enjoy uninterrupted play with no ads or distractions.

Highlights
  • Strong, fast chess engine
  • Fully offline functionality
  • Visual coaching with move suggestions
  • Built-in opening knowledge
  • Strategy tips and explanations
  • Play at your own pace, no clock
  • Undo moves freely
Features
Read full description

Learn chess openings, or play chess against a strong, fast engine with built-in coaching and analysis tools. OpenMate runs entirely on your device. No internet connection, no accounts, and no data collection. Everything is local, private, and instant. Designed for both play and improvement, OpenMate combines engine strength with visual guidance and practical coaching to help you understand the game as you play. Features: • Strong, fast engine with instant responses: ~4M nodes per second on an iPhone 16 (half on Low Power Mode), ~2800 ELO at 3s/move! • Fully offline: no network access required • Hint mode with visual coaching: - Opening guidance with move suggestions and lists (multicolor arrows) - Engine-recommended moves (green arrows) - Threat visualization (red arrows) • Built-in opening knowledge to guide early play • Strategy tips with both chess terminology and plain-English explanations • Play as White or Black • Flip the board anytime • Undo moves freely at any point • No clock: play at your own pace without time pressure OpenMate is designed to remove friction and distractions. There are no ads, no sign-ups, and no interruptions. Just chess. Whether you want to practice openings, analyze positions, or simply play strong games offline, OpenMate gives you a focused and responsive experience. Built for iPhone and iPad, tested across devices, and optimized for smooth performance.

About

Mahjong Universe

Experience two classic tile games: authentic four-player Mahjong with Hong Kong rules and relaxing Mahjong solitaire. Both are free, playable offline, and require no account. Enjoy a guided learning experience for the real game and an endless adventure mode with an optional subscription.

Highlights
  • Authentic four-player Mahjong
  • Mahjong solitaire game mode
  • Offline play
  • No account required
  • Illustrated rulebook
  • Adventure mode with subscription
Features
Read full description

Mahjong Universe is two games in one: the real four-player Mahjong played around tables in Hong Kong, and calm, beautiful Mahjong solitaire. Both are free, work fully offline, and never need an account. CLASSIC MAHJONG — THE REAL GAME (NEW) Sit down at a four-player table against three computer opponents and play authentic Mahjong: draw a tile, discard a tile, and build a hand of four sets and a pair. Call Chow, Pung and Kong on other players' discards, declare concealed and added kongs, set flowers and seasons aside for bonus fan, and win by self-draw or on a discard. - Hong Kong rules and scoring: the full fan table, from Common Hand and All Pungs through Mixed and Pure One Suit, Small and Great Dragons and Winds, All Honors, Nine Gates, Thirteen Orphans and the other limit hands. - Every win is explained: see the winning hand, each scoring pattern with its Chinese name and fan, the table value, and how the points moved. - Real structure: seat winds, prevailing winds, dealer rotation, drawn hands, an East round or a full four-round game. - House rules you can set: minimum fan (0, 1 or the standard 3), discarder-pays-all or pays-half, Seven Pairs on or off, opponent pace. - Helpers for learners: auto-sort your hand, see which tiles you are waiting on, and a warning when your hand is complete but too cheap to win. - A complete illustrated rulebook built in — tiles, sets, the deal, claiming, kongs, scoring, payment, strategy tips and a glossary — so you can learn the real game from scratch. - Your match saves automatically; pick it up whenever you like. SOLITAIRE Match free pairs of identical tiles to remove them, and clear the whole board to win. Simple to learn, endlessly relaxing to play. - Free reshuffle whenever you get stuck. - Adjustable board size, unlockable tile looks, and a built-in tile glossary that explains what every Mahjong tile means. WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT - Play anywhere, fully offline — no internet connection needed. - No account or sign-up. Just open and play. - Crisp, original tile art shared by both games, and a soothing soundtrack. ADVENTURE MODE Climb a never-ending trail through rolling grass and distant mountains, one solitaire board at a time, chapter after chapter. The map is alive — the grass sways in the breeze, clouds drift by, and white birds glide over the wall. Your first chapter is free to play; unlock the full, endless climb with an optional Adventure subscription. ADVENTURE SUBSCRIPTION - Full Adventure — $0.99 per month. No free trial — the first chapter is the free preview. - Unlocks every zone of the endless Adventure climb. Classic Mahjong and Solitaire are free and never require it. - Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically at $0.99/month unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. - Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ - Privacy Policy: https://prismdatagroup.com/mahjonguniverse/privacy We'd love to hear from you: 1@prismdatagroup.com

Screenshots

OpenMate4 screens
Mahjong Universe4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: OpenMate at none against Mahjong Universe's 1. OpenMate also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, rating, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Mahjong Universe sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per month. OpenMate asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for OpenMate against 5.0 for Mahjong Universe. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OpenMate has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OpenMate ships an update every 6 days, Mahjong Universe every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
OpenMate versus Mahjong Universe: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpenMateMahjong Universe
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB28 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRAMINE ROANEGeorge Field

Customer experience

OpenMate

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Mahjong Universe

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

In-app purchases

None

OpenMate

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Mahjong Universe

Subscriptions1
  • Full Adventure$0.991 Month

Questions

Is OpenMate free?
OpenMate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mahjong Universe free?
Mahjong Universe is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, OpenMate or Mahjong Universe?
OpenMate and Mahjong Universe are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 8 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do OpenMate or Mahjong Universe have ads?
Neither OpenMate nor Mahjong Universe shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OpenMate or Mahjong Universe?
OpenMate ships an update every 6 days, and Mahjong Universe every 3 weeks. Most recently, OpenMate was updated on October 24, 2026 and Mahjong Universe on October 28, 2026.

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