Comparison

Pulsar Chess Engine vs ZooDooKu

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

Head to head
About

Pulsar Chess Engine

Play chess and six popular variants with adjustable AI difficulty levels. Review logged games, access master game collections, and utilize Crafty engine analysis for standard chess and Chess960. Offers accessibility features for blind users.

Highlights
  • Plays 7 chess variants
  • Adjustable AI difficulty levels
  • Game logging and review
  • Master game collections
  • Crafty engine analysis
  • VoiceOver accessibility
Features
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The Pulsar Chess Engine plays Chess and six variants all with multiple levels. The variants are Chess960, Crazyhouse, Loser's, Atomic, Three Checks and Giveaway. Rules included in-app. In addition, there is also a review mode to look at the user's log file with analysis available for non variants. 10 game collections of classic and modern master games are included to look at including Kasparov, Fischer, Carlsen, Capablanca and Morphy 1858 collections. These collections and the log file are searchable. Pulsar values mobility and active positions. In app there is an article with more on its playing style and how to train against it. With the variants, each has its own style. Chess960, Three Checks and Crazyhouse are the more chess like variants and adoptable to learn to play for anyone with interest. The rules of all games are in app. Pulsar has levels of play from beginner too advanced. Games with a time control are the hardest though Pulsar doesn't call the player's time. The time is more to handicap Pulsar's strength, but users will have a clock and can see if it's gone negative if they want to play the time control. The game button - configure game menu item, lets the user control the variant and difficulty. It defaults to Chess at Easy(lowest level) but remembers the current settings when the App restarts. There are choices of pieces and board color schemes. The Pulsar program was originally developed by me for computers starting in 1998 and came to mobile for the first time in 2014. Pulsar's board is accessible to the blind using Voice Over, a screen reader. Tap on a square and it will say whats on it and double tap to move or choose from three move methods. A screen reader can normally read anything with text like a button, but a board is a collection of images. To make it accessible, text must be returned to Voice Over when a tap is in the area of a square. Pulsar began as a chess program and later learned variants. It ran extensively on two servers for many years both at chess and variants. The ratings on the board reflect strength I saw in rated play on handicapped bots. They are not 100% exact but generalizations I made from the various bots I ran at different settings. If in the new game selector, Play vs. Computer is unchecked the user can move for both sides. This is to allow two people at same location to use the App as a board for a game and have the app enforce move legality and results for whatever variant is selected.

About

ZooDooKu

A puzzle game that offers a twist on the classic Sudoku. It features number-based puzzles along with unique challenges using colors and animals. Test your logic and pattern recognition skills in this engaging brain teaser.

Highlights
  • Number puzzles
  • Color puzzles
  • Animal puzzles
  • Sudoku variations
  • Logic challenges
Features
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This game challenge you to complete the usual SoDoKu .. But this time it can be numbers, colors, or animals :-) Can you do it? I can tell you this: It is not easy to play with colors or animal .. The easiest part comes with the numbers in ZooDoKu .. So, challenge your self for a similar game "ZooDoKu" It contains the same SoDoKu game with numbers, but even more, it has two more games where numbers are transferred to Colors or Animals :-) Enjoy your fun time.

Screenshots

Pulsar Chess Engine4 screens
ZooDooKu4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ZooDooKu at Free against Pulsar Chess Engine's $1.99. ZooDooKu also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Pulsar Chess Engine's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (12 vs 1). On ads 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

ZooDooKu is free to download; Pulsar Chess Engine costs $1.99 up front. ZooDooKu sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pulsar Chess Engine asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ZooDooKu holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pulsar Chess Engine has 12 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pulsar Chess Engine ships an update every 2 months, ZooDooKu every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Pulsar Chess Engine versus ZooDooKu: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPulsar Chess EngineZooDooKu
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (12 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings12 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMichael AdamsAbdullah AlAzemi

Customer experience

Pulsar Chess Engine

All ratings12 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%

ZooDooKu

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

In-app purchases

None

Pulsar Chess Engine

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

ZooDooKu

One-time1
  • Hints$0.99

Questions

Is Pulsar Chess Engine free?
Pulsar Chess Engine costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ZooDooKu free?
ZooDooKu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pulsar Chess Engine or ZooDooKu?
ZooDooKu is rated higher. Pulsar Chess Engine averages 4.3 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while ZooDooKu averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Pulsar Chess Engine or ZooDooKu have ads?
Neither Pulsar Chess Engine nor ZooDooKu shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pulsar Chess Engine or ZooDooKu?
Pulsar Chess Engine ships an update every 2 months, and ZooDooKu every 3 weeks. Most recently, Pulsar Chess Engine was updated on October 14, 2026 and ZooDooKu on October 11, 2026.

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