GarryChess vs Chess Variants Studio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
GarryChess
Engage in personalized chess training with AI bots that mimic real player styles. Improve your game through courses, puzzles, and interactive analysis. Track your progress and explore community-created bots for a unique learning experience.
- Human-like AI chess bots
- Personalized training courses
- Tactical and positional puzzles
- Style-based drills
- Interactive game review
- Community-created bots
- Progress tracking
Read full descriptionHide full description
GarryChess is a personalized chess training app where you play against human-like AI chess bots inspired by real chess styles and backed by the latest research on human-like skill representation — from attacking like Mikhail Tal to mastering your own openings. Train through courses, dynamic puzzles, style-based drills, and interactive game review designed to make chess practice more engaging and realistic. Play quick games against unique opponents, explore community-created bots, analyze completed games, and track your improvement over time. Features: Play against chess bots with distinct and realistic playstyles Solve tactical and positional chess puzzles Practice dynamic training drills Courses to improve at chess through your preferred play-style Review and analyze completed games Explore community-created chess bots Track puzzle history and game progress Sign in with Apple or Google Manage your profile and account Unlike traditional chess engines, GarryChess focuses on style, personality, and human-like play to create a more engaging way to improve at chess.
Chess Variants Studio
Read full descriptionHide full description
Play any of nine variants of chess with 8 levels, 1200-2100, against the custom Pulsar engine. Review games with variant engine analysis. Styles supported are Chess960, Crazyhouse, Atomic, Losers, Giveaway, Three Checks, Advanced Pawns, Reversed Pawns and Random Pieces. The rules are included in-app. No signup. Ad Free. Works Offline. The playing program is one i've designed and tested at different levels on internet chess servers in order to come up with the ratings on the board. Ratings range from 1200 to 2100 or 2200 depending on variant. Try the app for free. There's 10 free plays of pure variants like atomic, crazyhouse and loser's and 10 free plays of chessic variants like chess960 and 30 free views of played games with analysis. A single one-time purchase unlocks unlimited play and variant engine analysis. Played games are logged and can also be viewed/analyzed. When reviewing the player's games, users can override the moves and start making their own moves. Back up to main line to undo. If the user goes looks at the Moves while reviewing, the game can be copied to the clipboard. The app comes with two skin themes, a reddish wood and a teal. Also here are multiple board and piece choices to choose from in settings.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: GarryChess at none against Chess Variants Studio's 1. GarryChess also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 9 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Chess Variants Studio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. GarryChess asks for nothing beyond the download.
GarryChess ships an update daily, Chess Variants Studio every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on August 1, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | GarryChess | Chess Variants Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Daily — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 176 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JASON TYLER CARLSON | Michael Adams |
In-app purchases
GarryChess
No in-app purchases
Chess Variants Studio
- Unlimited Plays and Views$3.99





