# Simon Tatham's Puzzles — user reviews > 143 indexed App Store user reviews of Simon Tatham's Puzzles by Greg Hewgill, rated 4.80/5 from 220 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simon-tathams-puzzles/id622220631/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simon-tathams-puzzles/id622220631.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 197 · 4★ 10 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 4 · 1★ 6 ## What do users think of Simon Tatham's Puzzles? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Great variety of puzzles - 👍 No ads or in-app purchases - 👍 Simple, intuitive interface - 👍 Customizable difficulty levels - 👍 Offline playability **Cons** - 🐛 Compatibility issues with iOS 14 - 👎 Lack of zoom/scaling options - 👎 Reliance on long-press controls can be awkward - 👎 Some puzzles not as intuitive on mobile **Commonly reported bugs** - Crashes on startup with iOS 14 - Filling/marking not working properly in some puzzles **Most requested features** - Zoom/scaling options for larger puzzles - Alternative control schemes (e.g. tap-to-flag) - Inclusion of all puzzles from desktop version ## Newest reviews (17 of 143) ### 5/5 — No add, no music, just logic *2025-04-10, version 1.3.2* Thanks to the devs who took time to share these logical puzzles with us. ### 5/5 — Brilliant *2025-04-08, version 1.3.2* I don’t usually bother writing reviews for apps but I have to shout out this one for: Not having ads or in-app purchases, not having daily goals or stats or check-ins. Just delightful, inventive puzzles to solve for the fun of it. It feels weird to not be rewarded with points and dings and a sense of progression, and to have to let the satisfaction of solving a puzzle be enough. It is JUST what I need. Would gladly buy the creator a coffee. ### 5/5 — true to word *2025-02-28, version 1.3.2* simple offline puzzles with no ads. exactly as advertised 👌 ### 5/5 — Excellent, no ads, best puzzle app *2025-01-15, version 1.3.2* Couldn’t recommend any more highly ### 5/5 — One of the best puzzle collections *2025-01-03, version 1.3.2* Simon Tatham's puzzle page has always stood out among its peers for its smooth implementations and sophisticated puzzle generation algorithms.There are few Minesweeper implementations out there that eliminate guesswork, for example. This app is a good port with fairly intuitive controls, the only downside to me is that you have to long-press to "right click", and it becomes annoying on puzzles that require a lot of that, such as Keen, Light Up and Solo. Not sure how else this could be solved, it may just be a limitation of mobile inputs. A toggle between "digit mode" and "candidate mode" may help. Something else to note is there haven't been updates in 4 years, so certain newer puzzles in the collection are not present here, but it doesn't detract from the quality of what we do have. ### 5/5 — Very good puzzle! The only things i would add… *2024-12-29, version 1.3.2* The puzzles are great and unique. I would recommend making the introduction easier with an example or a video for non native speakers. I would also like to have a optional timer in the app. Great App! Thanks for sharing ### 5/5 — Everything you could ask for *2024-12-07, version 1.3.2* This game comes with SO MANY types of puzzles to play, and I absolutely adore it. While I’m used to some of the puzzles (like Galaxies and Pattern as they’re named here) creating a pretty picture by solving them in other apps, I’m totally fine with sacrificing that artistic function in favor of being able to generate as many of the puzzles as I want with no in-App purchases. Not to mention, on my big iPad screen, the custom puzzles I can make it generate are HUGE and so, so satisfying to complete! ### 5/5 — Specific seed broken *2024-11-01, version 1.3.2* This is by far one of the best time killer we have, it can be as challenging as you want. One drawback since some time I can’t enter specific seeds for games. I used to compete with friends in this, can’t do it anymore. I do not remove a single star for this, it’s minor. ### 4/5 — Great but better on Android *2024-10-25, version 1.3.2* Thank you for these games. I love playing them and learning new ways to work the problems. I just wish the interface was as good as the android version. There is no way to delete/clear a cell in some of the games(Keen), no way to favorite games, no zoom in “inertia”, ### 5/5 — No ads. No nonsense. Just puzzles. *2024-08-21, version 1.3.2* This collection of both classic & original logic puzzles is clean, simple, and to-the-point. If you're looking for fancy graphics or high-stakes timed games, keep looking. But if you're sick of all the ads and unnecessary bells & whistles in most mobile puzzle games, this is the game for you. ### 5/5 — An actual puzzle collection *2024-08-13, version 1.3.2* This is a puzzle collection, with an incredible amount of customizable, fun puzzles. It has no ads, no in app purchases, no nonsense. ### 4/5 — 4-4.5 love the puzzles but no accessibility options *2024-08-11, version 1.3.2* I love this puzzles app. Huge variety of simple, old school puzzles without ads or other distractions; love the win/lose graphics; and!! It works across a wide variety of devices, including on my old iPhone 6!! Lots of options for game board size, regarding number of spaces to play for complexity. Puzzles recall your specs and place even after full shutdown. No accessibility features. You have to be able to see the board and touch it in right places completely as is, in order to play. No dark mode, even, for those of us with light sensitivity, tho the gray (vs white) background does mitigate it some. Idk if anyone is tracking this for updates anymore, but even zoom and color shift to phone specs options would be a good start. This is the first review I've ever written because i enjoy this app so much. I have few accessibility needs for phone use and have loved playing some of my old favorites. Thank you! ### 5/5 — Puzzle Games with No Ads *2024-07-24, version 1.3.2* Puzzles for free with no ads. I particularly like the galaxies puzzle. ### 5/5 — amazing *2024-07-09, version 1.3.2* several free puzzles with no ads completely free this is amazing ### 5/5 — Phenomenal app *2024-05-23, version 1.3.2* This app is truly amazing. No ads, no paywalls, and the puzzles are generated each time so there's no worry about ever running out or reaching the end of the levels. I am so grateful for whatever kind programer made this app. The only tweaks I would suggest is making the instructions clearer for mobile use. The instructions are clearly for use on desktop. That said, it's not hard to figure out how to use the controls. ### 5/5 — My favorite android game is available on iOS! *2024-04-20, version 1.3.2* I wouldn't switch from android to iOS until I found out this app was available on iOS ### 5/5 — Tolle Sammlung - knobeln auf vielen Level *2024-04-16, version 1.3.2* Für den Anfänger bis zur Ratefüchsin ist alles möglich. Komplett offline und ohne Bezahlen. Spiele ich schon sehr lange. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Abandoned *2021-05-19, version 1.3.2* Developer is not interested in updating app, despite being LITERALLY HANDED an already up-to-date branch on GitHub. Other people have done all the hard work of integrating Simon’s latest changes into his code base, and this developer is unwilling to do the simple task of vetting changes, and pushing to Apple. Disappointing. ### 1/5 — No longer works in iOS 14 *2020-09-19, version 1.3* App has not been updated in 5 years and no longer works. ### 1/5 — No longer works with ios 14!!! *2020-09-18, version 1.3* this is my favorite app ### 2/5 — Ios 14 *2020-09-20, version 1.3* I loved this one. But since ios 14 it only crashes... ### 2/5 — Good puzzles; bad interface *2018-02-22, version 1.3* The touch controls are very awkward. Playing minesweeper, for example, it is extremely difficult to consistently flag suspected mines without setting them off. ### 3/5 — Could use zoom + long press alternative *2024-03-28, version 1.3.2* Some of these puzzles are a little difficult to play with a touch screen because of the lack of ability to zoom and reliance on long presses. For example, playing Loopy at higher levels means you can barely control where you tap and long pressing reliably is essentially impossible, so your solve is full of "errors" that aren't the player's fault. ### 3/5 — Good, but needs work on iOS *2023-04-08, version 1.3.2* I love having all these puzzles to play! However, after using this app on android, the iOS version feels almost unusable. The android app had easy and intuitive controls that are just not present on iOS. For example, with the Solo puzzle (which is a renamed sudoku), notes are simple and can be edited on android, but on iOS it’s hard to make notes in the first place, and once you’ve moved away from the box, you can’t edit the notes you’ve made. It’s also clear that these puzzles were ported from PC, and some of them don’t have working controls at all; I feel like I need a keyboard and mouse to make anything work right. In fact, all of the help menus reference the keyboard and mouse instead of the touchscreen. I suppose I can’t expect too much for being a completely free app with no ads, but it just feels leagues behind the android app. Still, the puzzles that do work well on iOS are fun, and I keep playing them :) ### 3/5 — Урезан функционал *2022-03-25, version 1.3.2* Не оптимизировано под iOS. На андроиде и на линуксе это приложение - лучшее. Здесь сильно урезан функционал, а без этого очень не удобно играть. ### 4/5 — Great but better on Android *2026-01-08, version 1.3.2* Thank you for these games. I love playing them and learning new ways to work the problems. I just wish the interface was as good as the android version. There is no way to delete/clear a cell in some of the games(Keen), no way to favorite games, no zoom in “inertia”, etc. I really do love the games and thank you. ### 4/5 — Bien mais *2025-09-15, version 1.3.2* Les jeux sont bien mais les explications sont lourde et parfois peu explicites, la prise en main peut être complexe, une petite vidéo ou un petit tutoriel aurais été appréciable ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Absolutely Phenomenal *2026-03-19, version 1.3.2* This is truly a service to all humankind. Thank you Simon Tatham. I’ve been a puzzler for many years and it was a delight to learn so many more. I use this constantly. Thank you! ### 5/5 — Hidden Gem *2026-01-03, version 1.3.2* Quality puzzle games with no ads, charity work like this is awesome. ### 5/5 — Lovely game *2025-11-26, version 1.3.2* Free, fun and excellent very of games ### 5/5 — The best puzzles *2025-11-23, version 1.3.2* Simon Tatham’s puzzle games are so good because there’s many different games, easy ones like flood and some more challenging ones. There’s no ads, and it’s free. Easy to pick up at any time like when waiting for something and wanting to pass the time. ### 5/5 — Ground breakingly simple *2025-10-30, version 1.3.2* Awesome collection of puzzles, some well known others new to me. All challenging in their own way with options to increase the challenge. So simple, NO ADs! No fee. ### 5/5 — One of the best puzzle collections *2025-09-27, version 1.3.2* Simon Tatham's puzzle page has always stood out among its peers for its smooth implementations and sophisticated puzzle generation algorithms.There are few Minesweeper implementations out there that eliminate guesswork, for example. This app is a good port with fairly intuitive controls, the only issue I've found is that it's not possible to copy the game IDs or puzzle strings, long tap does nothing. Something else to note is there haven't been updates in 5 years, so certain newer puzzles in the collection are not present here, but it doesn't detract from the quality of what we do have. ### 5/5 — I love y’all *2025-08-19, version 1.3.2* Thank you ### 5/5 — Free, no ads, no tricks, amazing classic puzzles *2025-07-22, version 1.3.2* I initially found these games on Linux through KDE Plasma's Discover and I regret nothing. It's an incredibly small software package while managing to fit in so many classic offline games. There are no ads or microtransactions and it's literally just the puzzles which is what I love about this. One of the small nitpicks that I have though is the player controls for minesweeper, as holding a tile down to flag it is kinda awkward for fast-pace gameplay. Something like an arrowpad or a flag modifier button at the bottom or side could help with this. This would also probably apply to some of the other puzzles since this appears to be a port of the desktop Linux version but it's still pretty functional. Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for lightweight classic puzzle games that get straight to the point. ### 5/5 — Phenomenal unobtrusive minimalist puzzle app *2025-06-23, version 1.3.2* This is a perfect app for when you need to kill a few minutes, but don’t want to get hit with saturated colors, animations, or ads. No tracking or telemetry as far as I can tell. Puzzles are generated on your device, so you don’t need an internet connection. Great for avoiding worse distractions while testing code changes at work, having something to do on the bus, and I’ve even used it for several hours at a time on flights. ### 5/5 — the greatest *2025-04-14, version 1.3.2* this app is fantastic! it has so many varieties of puzzle games and so many settings to tweak to make them just as easy or hard and big or small as you want them to be!! my only (minor) gripe is the lack of a zoom functionality, but even without that, it's a magnificent collection of puzzle games that everyone should have installed! --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-10.*