Comparison

Flamingo Chess vs Gambit

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

Head to head
About

Flamingo Chess

Features
Read full description

Flamingo Chess is plain chess for you and your friends: in Messages, live in the app, or across the table on one phone. No login, no tracking, no engine. Just a game of chess between people. PLAY IN MESSAGES Start a game right in a conversation and take turns whenever it suits you. Your opponent's move plays out on the board when you open it. Games in Messages are serverless: your moves travel in the conversation between your iPhones and are never stored on our servers. PLAY LIVE IN THE APP Pick a color, start a game, and share its five-letter invite code. Your friend types in the code and takes the other seat. Moves appear the moment they are made, and every game you play in the app waits in your games list, titled with both players' names, like "blueberry764 vs orange489." PLAY HOT SEAT Two people, one phone. The board turns to face whoever moves next, you can take moves back, and the game stays on your phone until you come back to it. SHARE YOUR GAMES Share any online or hot seat game as a scoresheet: plain text laid out like the paper sheet at a tournament, with the date, both players, the result, and every move in numbered rows. Send it to your opponent or keep it in your notes. KEEP YOUR GAMES Finished games go to the archive, where you can replay them move by move. AND ALSO • Offer a draw or resign, just like over the board • Speak your move: hold the Speech button and say "Move pawn to D3" • Playable with VoiceOver: every square announces its name and its piece, and legal moves are called out • Two board themes, Neon and Standard • Choose your own display name in Settings Have fun everyone!

About

Gambit

Explore classic chess and five unique variants on a single board. Play against AI with adjustable difficulty, with friends offline, or online against others. Features include post-game analysis and a library of famous games.

Highlights
  • Classic Chess
  • Five Chess Variants
  • Computer AI Play
  • Pass-and-Play Mode
  • Online Multiplayer
  • Post-Game Analysis
  • Famous Game Library
Features
Read full description

Gambit is chess — and five chess worlds beyond it. One clean board, every way to play. GAME TYPES • Classic Chess — full rules: castling, en passant, promotion, draws. • Fischer Random (Chess960) — randomized back rank with generalized castling. • Open Borders (Horde) — 36 pawns storm a full army. • Turnabout (Crazyhouse) — capture a piece, then drop it back as your own. • Siamese (Bughouse) — two boards, captured pieces feed your partner. • Star Trek Tri-D — three-dimensional chess across seven boards. WAYS TO PLAY • Computer — five difficulty levels, from a gentle start to a real fight. Moves are instant. • Pass-and-play — two players on one device. • Online — invite a friend with a link, or find a match automatically. Live clocks, resign and draw offers, and you can watch other live games. MORE • Eight board themes. • Post-game analysis — an evaluation graph and move-quality marks. • A library of famous games to replay. • Optional cross-device game history with "Sign in with Knomee." No account is required to play. Sign in only if you want your game history synced across devices.

Screenshots

Flamingo Chess4 screens
Gambit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Flamingo Chess at every 5 days against Gambit's every 2 months. Gambit's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flamingo Chess ships an update every 5 days, Gambit every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Flamingo Chess versus Gambit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlamingo ChessGambit
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMartin Kim Đưng-PhạmJoseph Malone

In-app purchases

None

Flamingo Chess

No in-app purchases

None

Gambit

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Flamingo Chess free?
Flamingo Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Gambit free?
Gambit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Flamingo Chess or Gambit have ads?
Neither Flamingo Chess nor Gambit shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flamingo Chess or Gambit?
Flamingo Chess ships an update every 5 days, and Gambit every 2 months. Most recently, Flamingo Chess was updated on October 28, 2026 and Gambit on October 7, 2026.

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