Assimilax vs ToriShogi
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Assimilax
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Assimilax is a game of quiet conquest: spread your colour across a hex board, one pastel orb at a time, until everything on it is yours. Each turn you do exactly one thing. Pick an orb and either CLONE it to a neighbouring hex (the original stays) or JUMP it two hexes across the board (it moves). Either way, every enemy orb touching where you land is ASSIMILATED — quietly flipped to your colour. That's the whole game. No timers rushing you, no menus to wade through — just you, a hex grid, and a slow, satisfying tide of colour spreading across it. Under the soft palette is a real strategy game: • 40 hand-built levels and a gentle tutorial, laid out as concentric rings on a hex map. Start at the centre and climb outward. • 3 boss battles gate the rings. • 6 playable orbs, each with a special power that charges as you play: Coral's Embrace, Azure's Flow, Sage's Root, Honey's Glow, Lavender's Drift and Stone's Anchor. Time one right and the whole board tips your way. • Three difficulties. Easy plays loose and forgiving; Normal keeps you honest; Hard thinks a move ahead and never blinks. Lives and continues soften the fall — or don't, on Hard. • A global leaderboard — leave your three letters at the top. Everything is tuned for calm: soft pastels, a chill soundtrack, unhurried animations. Pick it up for one quick level, or lose an evening climbing the rings. No ads. No in-app purchases. No account. Works offline. Just a board to take, one orb at a time.
ToriShogi
This app offers a digital version of Tori Shogi, a Japanese chess variant played on a 7x7 board with bird-themed pieces. It features an interactive tutorial, multiple game modes against AI or another player, and saves game records for replay. The app is free, ad-free, and playable offline.
- Interactive piece guide
- Learn-as-you-play tutorial
- Two-player mode
- AI opponent with multiple levels
- Automatic game saving and replay
- Offline play
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■ What is Tori Shogi? Tori Shogi ("bird shogi") is a Japanese chess variant born in the Edo period, traditionally attributed to Ōhashi Sōei, the ninth hereditary shogi Meijin. It is played on a compact 7×7 board with 16 pieces per side — and every piece is named after a bird. Guard your Phoenix, attack with a flock of Swallows, and promote your Falcon into the mighty Eagle. Unusually for an old shogi variant, captured pieces return to your hand and can be dropped back into play, just like in modern shogi. A small board with surprisingly deep tactics. New to the game? The app is built to teach you as you play. Choose Japanese or English at first launch — you can switch any time. ■ Learn as you play - Illustrated guide to all nine pieces: names, movements and promotions - Press and hold any piece during a game to see how it moves - The Swallow rules (the "three Swallows" and drop-mate prohibitions) and the mirrored left/right Quails, all explained ■ Game modes - Two Players: take turns on one iPhone or iPad - vs Computer: Beginner, Easy and Normal levels — a perfect sparring partner while you learn ■ Complete rules, faithfully implemented - Mandatory promotion: Falcon → Eagle, Swallow → Goose - Piece drops, the "three Swallows" rule, the swallow-drop-mate prohibition - Check and checkmate detection, repetition draws ■ Game records - Finished games are saved automatically; save mid-game any time - Replay your games move by move ■ Perfect for… - Shogi and chess players curious about variants - Quick but thoughtful games on a small board - Fans of Japanese tradition, birds and beautiful woodcraft - Playing with kids as a gateway into shogi Everything runs on your device — play offline, on a plane, anywhere. No ads, no in-app purchases, completely free. Enjoy the elegant bird chess of Edo Japan.
Screenshots
Verdict
Assimilax and ToriShogi are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Assimilax | ToriShogi |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 3 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Aidan Quigley | Tomohiko Kanai |
In-app purchases
Assimilax
No in-app purchases
ToriShogi
No in-app purchases









