Comparison

Chess ◧ vs Chess Prime 3D

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

Head to head
About

Chess ◧

Engage in classic chess matches on your iPhone or iPad. Play against a computer with adjustable difficulty, challenge a friend in two-player mode, or utilize helpful features like move undo and hints. Enjoy an attractive user interface for a smooth gaming experience.

Highlights
  • Play against computer
  • Two player mode
  • Adjustable computer strength
  • Undo moves
  • Hint option
  • Attractive UI
Features
Read full description

FREE Chess game for the iPhone and iPad FEATURES - Play agains the computer - Two player mode - Change computer strength - Undo moves - Rotate board - Hint option - Attractive UI --------------------------------------------------- TAPMEDIA PRO SUBSCRIPTION - You will receive access to the apps in the TapMedia PRO bundle for the duration of the subscription. - Subscription length: Monthly (includes one week free trial). - Subscriptions with a free trial period will automatically renew to a paid subscription. - Payments will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period and identify the cost of the renewal. - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. - All prices are subject to change without notification. We occasionally run promotion prices as incentives or limited time opportunities for qualifying purchases made during the promotional time period. Due to the time sensitive and promotional nature of these events, we are unable to offer price protection or retroactive discounts or refunds for previous purchases in the event of a price reduction or promotional offering. - Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription - You may cancel a subscription during its free period via the subscription setting through your iTunes Account. This must be done 24 hours before the end of the subscription period to avoid being charged. Please visit http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4098 Privacy Policy: http://tapmedia.co.uk/privacy.htm Terms of Use: http://tapmedia.co.uk/terms.htm

About

Chess Prime 3D

Engage in classic chess with stunning 3D graphics and versatile play modes. Challenge yourself with puzzles, play against AI or friends online, and learn with helpful move indicators. Save games, customize the board, and master openings.

Highlights
  • 3D and 2D board views
  • Single player and two player modes
  • Online multiplayer with chat
  • Hundreds of chess puzzles
  • Adjustable AI difficulty
  • Legal move highlighting
  • Board setup and save/load
Features
Read full description

Chess Prime 3D is one of the best designed 3D chess games for the iPad / iPhone. It provides learning support for novice players, a real challenge for the experienced players and fun. Swipe in any of four directions to view the board from any angle and play the chess game in 3D / 2D. Chess Prime 3D supports both ‘one player’ and ‘two player’ game play, so you can play online with your friends or with millions of players around the world, or against a challenging computer opponent with adjustable difficulty level. Master your chess skills by solving hundreds chess puzzles. You can use hints if you get stuck. You can even edit the board and start the game from any predefined position. That allows you to test your skills in different game phases, common positions, solve chess puzzles, etc. Also you can save your game and then re-load it anytime you want. If you are a novice player you may take advantage of the feature that shows all legal moves for the current piece. -The full list of features:- • Excellent 3D graphics, sound effects and music • Configurable player names • Option to change the piece’s and board color • Option to play in 2D • Great AI engine with a flexible difficulty level that suits both novice players and experts • 200 ‘Mate in 2’ / ‘Mate in 3’ puzzles with stats, rewards and hints. • LIVE CHESS - invite your friends and play online. Or just play with a random player. Three difficulty levels, four time control settings, rating system, statistics and more. Confirm your move before submitting. Communication options - In-Game Chat, Rematch, Undo Move, Offer Draw, Resign, Postpone Match. • Versatile openings: Chess Prime AI engine plays like a human, not as a computer that always chooses the same move at the same position. It gives you an opportunity to play different famous openings to gain extensive experience in chess • SETUP game: Start the game from any predefined position with any number of pieces • UNDO function if you accidentally hit wrong piece or square. It works even if your king is checkmated • REDO function if you missed the opponent’s move. Just press EYE button and Chess Prime will show you the last opponent’s move • SAVE / LOAD feature gives you an opportunity to finish the game later or to play the chess puzzle which you can setup in the “Setup Game” module • CENTER function to align the board to the center • Option to show the LEGAL MOVES for current piece (very useful for novice players) • Option to ROTATE the board in ‘two player’ mode • Option to change the perspective angle, adjust the piece size, rotate knights • Help button with instructions for En Passant capture / Castling (activated automatically) • Option to limit ‘think time’ in ‘one player’ mode to 5, 15 or 30 seconds • Option to switch on / off sound effects and / or music. You can also listen to own music. • Automatically saves the current state of the game, so the game state would be automatically restored if you quit the application • Universal app (supports iPad / iPod touch / iPhone) If you love playing chess in portrait mode and in 2D, then download and try out our Chess Prime app! Enjoy!

Screenshots

Chess ◧3 screens
Chess Prime 3D4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Chess ◧ at none against Chess Prime 3D's shown. Chess Prime 3D's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 12 months) and review sentiment (81% vs 53%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Chess ◧ sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Chess Prime 3D sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess Prime 3D holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Prime 3D has 62K ratings behind it against 410, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 53% of Chess ◧'s written reviews are positive against 81% of Chess Prime 3D's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ◧ ships an update every 12 months, Chess Prime 3D every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chess ◧ versus Chess Prime 3D: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess ◧Chess Prime 3D
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (410 ratings)4.6 (62K ratings) — better
Positive reviews52.9% of reviews81.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings41062K — better
Update frequencyEvery 12 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.09.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB61 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperTapMedia LtdVinta Games

Customer experience

Chess ◧

All ratings410 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral5.1%
Negative12.4%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive52.9%
Neutral14.7%
Negative32.4%

Chess Prime 3D

All ratings62,131 ratings
Positive89.6%
Neutral5.3%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews902 reviews
Positive81.4%
Neutral5.7%
Negative13.0%

User reviews

Chess ◧

From 410 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to play
  • 👍 Highly entertaining
  • 👍 Strong and flexible chess engine
  • 👍 Gameplay is human-like
  • 👍 Great for avoiding opening traps

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Two player mode broken
  • 🐛 Program is impenetrable for beginners
  • 🐛 Hints lead to losing
  • 🐛 Board color changed to brown
  • 🐛 Too many ads

Chess Prime 3D

From 62K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great app, easy to use
  • 👍 Versatile with customization options
  • 🎨 Excellent 3D graphics and visuals
  • 💡 Helpful for learning and improving chess skills

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional connection issues and glitches
  • ⏱️ Frustrating timer and move registration problems
  • 💰 Ads can be intrusive and disruptive
  • 🤖 Difficulty levels can be unbalanced and overly challenging

Bugs and requests

Chess ◧

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Two player mode doesn't work
  • Choosing '2 Player' does nothing
  • Many glitches
  • Cannot move a piece and make a change with king and tower
  • Slaughters battery life

Requested features

4 requests
  • Fix two player mode
  • Option to change board color back to black and white
  • Make the game easier for beginners
  • Allow viewing opponent's pawns

Chess Prime 3D

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Pieces not moving as expected
  • Game freezing or crashing during play
  • Incorrect move registrations and stalemate issues

Requested features

4 requests
  • Online multiplayer with chat functionality
  • Ability to save and review game history
  • Option to play background music from device
  • Improved matchmaking and difficulty balancing

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Chess ◧

Subscriptions1
  • TapMedia PRO - 1 Month3 Days trial$4.991 Month
One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99
1 purchases

Chess Prime 3D

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99

Questions

Is Chess ◧ free?
Chess ◧ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Prime 3D free?
Chess Prime 3D is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess ◧ or Chess Prime 3D?
Chess Prime 3D is rated higher. Chess ◧ averages 4.3 out of 5 from 410 ratings, while Chess Prime 3D averages 4.6 from 62K ratings.
Do Chess ◧ or Chess Prime 3D have ads?
Chess Prime 3D shows ads; Chess ◧ does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess ◧ or Chess Prime 3D?
Chess ◧ ships an update every 12 months, and Chess Prime 3D every 3 weeks. Most recently, Chess ◧ was updated on October 16, 2026 and Chess Prime 3D on October 18, 2026.

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