Comparison

Scale vs Backword

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

Head to head
About

Scale

Strategically cut a board to capture space while avoiding moving balls. Offers both tap-to-play and drag-and-drop controls for a fluid experience. Compete on leaderboards and collect in-game items.

Highlights
  • Strategic board cutting
  • Avoid moving balls
  • Tap-to-play controls
  • Drag-and-drop precision
  • Leaderboard competition
  • Collect diamonds
Features
Read full description

Scale is an addictive and captivating arcade puzzle game that challenges you to strategically place and time your cuts on the board, avoiding the constantly moving balls to create thrilling gameplay. Now with Tap-to-Play, you can simply tap the board to make your cuts, offering an intuitive and fluid playing experience. Prefer the classic method? No worries—drag and drop for precision cuts remains an option, giving you complete control over how you play. Get ready to challenge your mind and have loads of fun! This game is free, supported by ads related to the game’s content. You can disable ads at any time by purchasing the “No Ads” option. How to Play: It’s simple! Just cut the board, but be strategic—keep an eye on the balls. If you touch a ball before completing your cut, you lose a life. Achieving a ‘Perfect Move’ by passing the level in one move three times gives you an extra life. Boost your score, collect diamonds, and rise up the leaderboard. Compete with friends and see who can dominate in this thrilling game. Dive into ‘Scale’ now and find out just how far you can go in this top arcade game!

About

Backword

Read full description

Backword brings four word games and a Word of the Day together into one daily ritual to get your brain moving. Play Backword, a clever six-letter word game where the answer reveals from the end. Solve a fresh daily crossword. Unscramble the Anagram. Then take on a deeper weekly crossword when you want a bigger challenge. Every day counts. Build the highest score you can across all four games over a rolling 14-day period, climb the rating tiers, and see how long you can sustain the top level. Track your progress, protect your streaks, use hints when you need them, and return to the archive whenever you want another puzzle. Whether you have two minutes or twenty, Backword gives you a satisfying word challenge to come back to every day. Features: - Daily Backword puzzle - Daily crossword - Daily anagram - Weekly crossword - Word of the Day - Rolling 14-day score - Rating tiers to climb and maintain - Streaks, stats, and completion tracking - Puzzle archive - Hints when you get stuck - Optional Pro upgrade for an ad-free experience, unlimited archive access, and unlimited hints Currently only supports English language Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Scale4 screens
Backword4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Scale at weekly against Backword's every 3 weeks. Scale also leads on iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Scale sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Backword sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scale ships an update weekly, Backword every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Scale versus Backword: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScaleBackword
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (50K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews54.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings50K — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size75 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUnforced Error LLCSean Williams

Bugs and requests

Scale

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Levels not unlocking properly
  • Inconsistent ball physics
  • Freezing and crashes

Requested features

4 requests
  • More game modes and levels
  • Ability to save progress
  • Option to disable ads
  • Improved performance and stability

Backword

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Scale

One-time4
  • 3000 Diamonds$2.99
  • No Ads$2.99
  • 7000 Diamonds$3.99
Show 1 more
  • 15000 Diamonds$4.99
2 purchases

Backword

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro Pass7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Annual Pro Pass7 Days trial$11.991 Year

Questions

Is Scale free?
Scale is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Backword free?
Backword is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Scale or Backword have ads?
Both Scale and Backword show ads.
Which is updated more often, Scale or Backword?
Scale ships an update weekly, and Backword every 3 weeks. Most recently, Scale was updated on October 20, 2026 and Backword on October 5, 2026.

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