Comparison

Quarta vs Chess Lab

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

Head to head
About

Quarta

This is a two-player digital board game where players place tiles to build and claim colored areas. Each game generates a unique musical soundtrack based on the gameplay. It offers a simple yet engaging experience with a sophisticated AI for solo play.

Highlights
  • Two-player tile placement
  • Generative music soundtrack
  • Dynamic AI opponent
  • Quick gameplay sessions
  • Designed for digital platforms
  • Listen mode for music enjoyment
Features
Read full description

Quarta is an original digital board game with a unique generative soundtrack, designed and created by Kennerspiel des Jahres nominated game designer Brett J. Gilbert and musician, software designer and Bloom co-creator Peter Chilvers. Two players take turns to place tiles, build areas of coloured ‘quarta’s, and claim those areas to control the three colours. Each game lasts only a few minutes, and is played until the tiles fill a 5×5 square. The winner is the player who controls the most colours at the end of the game. But Quarta is also something more. As you play, Quarta creates a totally unique piece of music – an individual soundtrack for every game – driven by the arrangement of areas built by the players. "Both challenging to the mind and relaxing at the same time, the perfect form of gaming." AppAdvice KEY FEATURES • Designed for digital: A brand new two-player tile game created especially for iOS. • Simple, engaging gameplay: Tutorial gets you playing in 60 seconds. A game takes a few minutes. • Unique generative soundtrack: A new piece of music created every time you play. • Sophisticated, dynamic AI: In ‘Solo’ mode, players will discover a strong, adaptive AI opponent, which refines its play as they improve and provides a satisfying opponent for even the most experienced players. • Listen mode: In ‘Listen’ mode players can simply watch and enjoy a unique piece of generative music. ABOUT THE CREATORS Brett J. Gilbert (game design & visual design) is a professional game designer. His first board game, Divinare, published by Asmodee in 2012, was recommended by the Spiel des Jahres 2013 jury. Elysium, published in 2015 by Space Cowboys, has been nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres award. Quarta is his first digital game. Peter Chilvers (iOS development & soundtrack design) is a musician and software designer. Best known for creating the iOS apps Bloom, Trope and Scape with Brian Eno, he has also toured with Karl Hyde (Underworld) and recorded a number of albums with vocalist Tim Bowness.

About

Chess Lab

Analyze chess games with a powerful AI engine, practice against 30 difficulty levels, or watch live top-tier matches. Save and replay games, import PGNs, and customize your board view for a premium experience.

Highlights
  • AI-powered game analysis
  • 30 difficulty levels for CPU play
  • Local 2-player mode
  • Lichess spectating with channel selection
  • Save and replay games
  • PGN import
  • Customizable 2D/2.5D board views
Features
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Open the app and your previous channel is right there. Watch world-class games in your spare time. Save interesting matches and analyze the positions. Chess Lab: Arasan Engine is a chess app that combines a world-class chess engine and Lichess spectating into one beautiful, intuitive interface. ▪ Play instantly with "Web Invite" - No download or account creation required for your opponent. - Just send an invite link, and they can join immediately from their smartphone or PC browser. ▪ Diverse game modes - Web Invite Match: Easy private matches via URL. - Offline CPU Match: Play against the powerful Arasan engine (featuring the latest v26.1 / NNUE v8). Practice with 30 levels of adjustable strength. - Local 2-Player Match: Play face-to-face on a single device. ▪ Watch world chess on your smartphone. Lichess Spectating - Watch top world games right in the app, just like watching TV or manga on your phone. - Channel selection (Top Rated / Bullet / Blitz / Rapid / Classical), thumbnail/list display, and item count (10/20/30) support. - Displays board, moves, clock, playback controls, and termination reason. Rewind moves to review. - Your previous tab and channel open automatically, putting world games right in front of you during spare moments. - Save interesting games to history to use for your own learning. ▪ Extensive analysis & replay features - Powered by Arasan: Built-in UCI engine that calculates highly accurate evaluations and best moves. - Real-time Analysis: Displays evaluation bar and eval graph in real-time during games. Recalculate past games with "Analyze Position" and save the graph. The graph uses a dynamic scale that excludes mate scores and clamps at a maximum of ±15 pawns. - Candidate Moves Display: Shows top candidate moves on the board with arrows, ghost pieces, and evaluation labels. The 1st move is blue, and subsequent moves are color-coded green → yellow → red based on Loss (difference from the 1st move). Toggle visibility with the "Candidates" button. - Interactive History: Step playback, fast-forward, jump to any position, and a "Rewind" (back to start) button for efficient review. - Visualized Insights: Automatically highlights large evaluation changes (blunders). Color-codes long-thinking moves (red/yellow) to visualize time management. - PGN Import: Import external game data (PGN). ▪ Premium board experience - 2.5D & 2D Display: Switch between a tilted 2.5D perspective and a classic 2D board. - Piece Design Toggle: Choose between text pieces and detailed image pieces. - Full Promotion Support: Accurately select Queen, Rook, Bishop, or Knight when promoting a pawn. - Pause & Resume: Automatically saves unfinished games so you can resume later. ▪ Improved menu & settings - Redesigned bottom menu into a 3-tab layout: "Match / History / Lichess". The header switches according to the selected tab. - Tab selection state is saved, so the previous tab opens automatically on the next launch.

Screenshots

Quarta4 screens
Chess Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Quarta at 87% against Chess Lab's 33%. Quarta also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). Chess Lab's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99). On 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

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

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Quarta versus Chess Lab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuartaChess Lab
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (10 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews86.7% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings10 — better—
Update frequency—Every 4 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS8.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOpal Limitedkoji ozono

Customer experience

Quarta

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive86.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative13.3%

Chess Lab

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

In-app purchases

None

Quarta

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Chess Lab

One-time1
  • Chess Lab Pro$2.99

Questions

Is Quarta free?
Quarta costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Lab free?
Chess Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Quarta or Chess Lab have ads?
Chess Lab shows ads; Quarta does not.

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