Comparison

Astraware Acrostic vs Lamplit

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

Head to head
About

Astraware Acrostic

Solve word clues to uncover a vertical target word. Enjoy quick puzzles perfect for short breaks, with daily and weekly challenges. Features include helpful hints and global leaderboards.

Highlights
  • Solve word clues to find a vertical target word
  • 50 built-in free puzzles
  • Daily and weekly new puzzles
  • Global leaderboard competition
  • Vowel/consonant highlighting
  • Helpful hints available
Features
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Astraware Acrostic is a quick-style word puzzle game - solve the clues to reveal the words and find the vertical target word that connects through them all! Perfect if you love Crosswords but like something a bit quicker that you can fit into a shorter break and still finish a puzzle! There are 50 built-in free puzzles with a range of difficulties and sizes, so you can play offline at any time. You get free unlimited access to play two new Daily Acrostic puzzles each day, and compete on the global leaderboard! There's a free Weekender puzzle available each week with a larger puzzle and trickier clues. The unique twist are some novel features to boost your progress - highlighting in puzzle shows you where vowels and consonants appear, and each time you get one of the horizontal words, the target letter is revealed throughout the puzzle! Still need a bit of a hint? (Everyone does, from time to time!) - ask for a hint for a small time cost and our bookend-hints give you the first and last letters of the word which we've found are a huge help! Astraware Acrostic Top Features: - Free unlimited access to our Daily and Weekender puzzles, each with their own online high score table - submit your times and see how you compare! - 50 free puzzles in a range of sizes for hours of play - Play any of the puzzles from the past week and catch up whenever you like! - Unlimited helpful hints - Clues and answers are written for an international English-speaking audience whether you are American, British, Canadian, Australian or maybe learning English as a student. Astraware Acrostics are hand-crafted quick-style puzzles with a broad range of clues using general knowledge that are popular on the puzzle pages of many major newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, National Post and the New York Times (NYT) crosswords! Clues might also include synonyms and anagrams, and the occasional slightly cryptic puzzle too! If you love this game, you will be pleased to know that we have other apps available in this range: Astraware CodeWords, Kriss Kross, Word Search, and of course Astraware Crosswords for the dedicated enthusiast! Puzzles Plus Subscription Terms and Details Puzzles Plus is our optional subscription for Acrostic which entitles you to play all of the available Daily, Weekender and Stream puzzles as soon as they are available, without in-game adverts. Subscribers can also choose to highlight their high scores with a choice of badges. Subscriptions are available with renewal periods of either monthly, quarterly, or yearly. The price shown is the cost of the renewal, with the saving as a comparison to the monthly option. After you confirm a subscription, you will have a free trial period of seven days. Your iTunes Account will be charged as soon as the free trial is over. If you cancel the subscription at any time before the free trial is over, you will not be billed. The subscriptions are automatically renewing, and you will be charged again at the end of your current subscription period. Your subscription will automatically renew unless you turn this off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. The renewal cost will be the same for each subscription period, and will be charged within the 24 hours before the end of your current subscription. You can manage the subscriptions at any time by going to the Account Settings in the Settings App after purchase. There are options to either change to a different renewal period (at a different price) or to cancel your subscription completely. If you cancel the renewal you will still have access to the Puzzles Plus features until the full subscription period is complete. If you confirm the purchase of a subscription before the free trial is complete, any unused portion of the trial will be lost. These terms are available at : https://www.astraware.com/about/puzzlesplus/ For more information on Data and Privacy, see our Privacy page at http://www.astraware.com/privacy

About

Lamplit

This word puzzle game challenges players to find hidden words by solving acrostic clues. It offers daily puzzles, two distinct puzzle types, and a choice of clue styles, all within a Victorian-inspired aesthetic. Play offline and enjoy a premium experience without subscriptions.

Highlights
  • Acrostic puzzles with hidden spine words
  • Single and double acrostic formats
  • Modern and classic clue styles
  • Daily new puzzles
  • Streak tracking and protection
  • Offline play
  • Dark mode support
Features
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Lamplit — Words worth finding. Lamplit is a premium word puzzle game built around acrostics: each clue has an answer, and the first letters of those answers spell a hidden “spine” word. As you solve, the spine reveals letter by letter until the full word appears. The game takes its name and look from the Victorian era, when acrostics were the puzzle of choice for educated readers — warm, thoughtful, and satisfying. Two puzzle types - Single acrostic — The first letter of each answer spells the spine word. Perfect for learning the format and daily play. - Double acrostic — First and last letters of each answer spell two different words at once. A step up in challenge and reward. Two clue styles - Modern — Clear, direct clues so you can focus on the puzzle. - Classic — Lyrical, Victorian-style clues. Unlocks after you’ve completed a set number of puzzles, so it feels earned, not paywalled. Daily puzzle - One new puzzle every day. Weekdays are standard acrostics; weekends offer double acrostics. Same puzzle for everyone, so you can compare and share without spoilers. Streaks and hints - Build a streak by completing the daily puzzle on consecutive days. Optional streak shields (one free per week, more by purchase) help protect your streak. - Use hints to reveal a single letter when you’re stuck. Hints refresh with daily play and can be topped up with optional bundles. Honest, upfront pricing - Free: Daily puzzle plus a starter set of puzzles so you can learn and play without paying. - One-time unlock — One purchase unlocks the full base library and removes ads. No subscription. - Themed packs — Buy only the themes you like (Weather, Literature, Nature, Mythology, History, and more). - Hint bundles and streak shields — Optional add-ons when you want a little extra help or streak protection. Designed to feel premium - Warm, lamp-lit look: deep backgrounds, amber accents, serif type. - Smooth animations and clear feedback when answers are correct or wrong. - Dark mode by design — cozy and easy on the eyes. - Play offline: all puzzle content is on your device. For players who like craft - Lamplit is for people who enjoy word games with depth and a clear, fair business model — no subscriptions, no dark patterns. If you like crosswords, Wordle, or classic newspaper puzzles, Lamplit offers a different format with a distinctive look and feel.

Screenshots

Astraware Acrostic4 screens
Lamplit4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Lamplit at none against Astraware Acrostic's shown. Lamplit also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (100% vs 76%). Astraware Acrostic's advantage is ratings volume (53 vs 7) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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. Astraware Acrostic sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Lamplit sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lamplit holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Astraware Acrostic has 53 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Astraware Acrostic's written reviews are positive against 100% of Lamplit's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Astraware Acrostic versus Lamplit: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAstraware AcrosticLamplit
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (53 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings53 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 6 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAstraware LimitedAlpine Blue, LLC

Customer experience

Astraware Acrostic

All ratings53 ratings
Positive84.9%
Neutral5.7%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral4.8%
Negative19.0%

Lamplit

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Astraware Acrostic

Subscriptions3
  • Puzzles Plus7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Puzzles Plus7 Days trial$2.993 Months
  • Puzzles Plus7 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time5
  • Easy Pack$0.99
  • Tough Pack$0.99
  • Ad-Free Daily Puzzles$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Deluxe Pack$2.99
  • Calendar Pack 2017$4.99
9 purchases

Lamplit

One-time9
  • 10 Hints$0.99
  • Streak Shield (3-Pack)$0.99
  • Weather Pack$1.99
Show 6 more
  • Nature Pack$1.99
  • Mythology Pack$1.99
  • Literature Pack$1.99
  • History Pack$2.99
  • 50 Hints$3.99
  • One-Time Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is Astraware Acrostic free?
Astraware Acrostic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Lamplit free?
Lamplit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Astraware Acrostic or Lamplit?
Lamplit is rated higher. Astraware Acrostic averages 4.5 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while Lamplit averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Astraware Acrostic or Lamplit have ads?
Astraware Acrostic shows ads; Lamplit does not.
Which is updated more often, Astraware Acrostic or Lamplit?
Astraware Acrostic ships an update every 6 weeks, and Lamplit every 6 weeks. Most recently, Astraware Acrostic was updated on October 22, 2026 and Lamplit on October 7, 2026.

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