Comparison

Xmas Ludo vs Active Chess

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

Head to head
About

Xmas Ludo

This Christmas-themed board game lets you play Ludo with friends or against AI. Features include team modes, customizable backgrounds, and a lucky draw for in-game items. Enjoy classic dice-rolling fun with a festive twist.

Highlights
  • Christmas-themed icons and backgrounds
  • Team Mode with 'Team Push' rule
  • Lucky Draw for free Magic Dices
  • Enhanced AI opponent
  • Customizable game backgrounds
  • Player statistics
Features
Read full description

Ludo is one of the most popular board and dice games in many counties. The Xmas Ludo is for Christmas Holidays, support "Team Mode" creatively, you can play together with friends in one team against others in another team. Also you can 1 vs 3 if you like! * More than 10 kinds of Xmas icons. * Change game background, also you can select photos from Camera Roll. * Lucky Draw after each game, get free Magic Dices. * Team Mode. * New rule 'Team Push' : the pieces in the same team can push forward each other when they fall into one grid. * Enhanced AI design. * Statistics. How to play? * Each player has 4 pieces start in the base. * Roll the dice to move each piece around the board. * Piece will jump if stop at the grid has the same color with the piece. * Piece will kick other pieces back to base if stop at the grid that other places already stopped at. The pieces in the same team do not kick each other. * All pieces reach the goal in one team firstly, the team win.

About

Active Chess

Experience a unique chess variant with randomized starting positions and modified rules for dynamic gameplay. Develop your strategic thinking and planning skills in this engaging board game.

Highlights
  • Randomized starting positions
  • Modified chess rules
  • Strategic gameplay
  • Cognitive skill development
  • Choice of board sizes
  • Play against a chess bot
Features
Read full description

Playing chess regularly develops human cognitive abilities, such as: logical thinking, attentiveness, memory, ability to analyse and plan. However, in classical chess there is one drawback that does not contribute to the interest in the game on the part of millions of potential players. For thousands of years of the existence of chess, all combinations, the so-called openings, that can appear on the chessboard at the beginning of the game, have been developed and well studied. A professional player who knows several of these openings will certainly gain an advantage over an ordinary player, even if his cognitive abilities are obviously lower. Active Chess got its name because it excludes the use of different preliminary preparations in different game situations, especially at the beginning of the game. In active chess, there is no well-known traditional arrangement of pieces, and this precludes the use of a library of openings. From the first moves of the game, an active game begins, the result of which depends on the player's cognitive abilities, his ability to think and a bit of luck. The luck factor is associated with the formation of the starting position randomly for each player. But in order not to depend on capricious luck, the player can independently form his position on the board. At the same time he does not know what position his opponent will have. This gives a special sharpness of the game. In Active Chess, almost all the rules of classical chess are followed with a few exceptions: • Rule for castling of kings is absent since a player, when creating an initial position, can place his king in that part of the board and among other pieces, where he will be in the greatest safety. • Chess pieces can be placed on the first three ranks of each side in the order that suits the player. • A special mark is applied to the image of the pawns of the first move, which disappears after the first move. • Bishops can be of the same color field or different color fields at the choice of the player. Active Chess has to a choice of two options for boards 8x8 and 8x10. In the current version of the application, only a game with a chess bot is available. The application has ads are shown after the end of the game. The winner does not see ads! You can remove all Ads and limit of preset positions by subscription. Enjoy Game! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: http://books.virenter.com/policy.php

Screenshots

Xmas Ludo4 screens
Active Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Active Chess at 5.0 against Xmas Ludo's 4.0. Xmas Ludo's advantage is update cadence (every 8 months vs every 39 months) and ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Xmas Ludo sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Active Chess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Active Chess holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Xmas Ludo has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Xmas Ludo ships an update every 8 months, Active Chess every 39 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Xmas Ludo versus Active Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterXmas LudoActive Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 8 months — betterEvery 39 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS6.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer志伟 赖Alexey Polunin

Customer experience

Xmas Ludo

All ratings8 ratings
Positive62.5%
Neutral25.0%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Active Chess

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

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Xmas Ludo

One-time3
  • 50 Magic Dices$0.99
  • 200 Magic Dices$2.99
  • 400 Magic Dices$4.99
3 purchases

Active Chess

Subscriptions3
  • Unlimited Positions 1 Week$0.997 Days
  • Unlimited Positions 1 Month$1.991 Month
  • Unlimited Positions 3 Month$4.993 Months

Questions

Is Xmas Ludo free?
Xmas Ludo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Active Chess free?
Active Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Xmas Ludo or Active Chess?
Active Chess is rated higher. Xmas Ludo averages 4.0 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Active Chess averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Xmas Ludo or Active Chess have ads?
Neither Xmas Ludo nor Active Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Xmas Ludo or Active Chess?
Xmas Ludo ships an update every 8 months, and Active Chess every 39 months. Most recently, Xmas Ludo was updated on October 16, 2026 and Active Chess on October 9, 2026.

Other comparisons