Regex Crossword vs Cracking the Cryptic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Regex Crossword
Engage in a unique crossword puzzle experience powered by regular expressions. Learn the basics with a tutorial, conquer challenges for achievements, and climb the leaderboards. Design and share your own puzzles with a creative community.
- Regular expression-based puzzles
- In-game tutorial
- Achievement system
- Competitive leaderboards
- Custom puzzle creation
- Community puzzle sharing
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Crossword puzzle game using Regular Expressions with an easy tutorial to get you started. Earn achievements completing puzzle challenges and compete for the top rank against other players. Create your own puzzles in our level editor and share them with the community.
Cracking the Cryptic
This app offers a curated collection of handcrafted Sudoku puzzles from world-renowned constructors. Explore classic and unique variants, with new puzzle packs released regularly. A free introductory pack is included with download.
- Handcrafted Sudoku puzzles
- Curated by expert constructors
- Classic and unique variants
- Regularly released puzzle packs
- Free introductory puzzle pack
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OUR NEWEST PACK – CLASSIC VOLUME #2! Classic sudoku is where it all began, and there is still lots of skill to be deployed to solve classic puzzles, and new techniques to be explored. Nikoli, the Japanese puzzle house, named and popularised sudoku from 1984, and we have commissioned 20 puzzles from them for this Classic Sudoku 2 app. We have also created 20 ourselves, and sourced 20 more from Sam Cappleman-Lynes, the brilliant British sudoku expert. The result is a wonderful 60-puzzle pack which will delight and challenge you. -------------------- Welcome to the brand new Sudoku app from the most popular Sudoku channel, Cracking The Cryptic. Unlike other Sudoku apps, we feature handcrafted and curated puzzles from the world’s best Sudoku constructors. Each collection features puzzles made by various authors that are now familiar names to those who follow the channel. Authors like Phistomefel, Clover, Sam Cappleman-Lynes, Christoph Seeliger, Richard Stolk, jovi_al, Qodec, Prasanna Seshadri and of course, Simon and Mark! Downloading Cracking the Cryptic will give you access to our first free collection – a variety pack by Prasanna Seshadri featuring 7 puzzles inspired from our previous Sudoku apps; Sandwich, Classic, Chess, Thermo, Miracle, Killer and Arrow Sudoku. We also have purchasable packs designed for all skill levels and featuring many unique variants not seen previously. We’ll be releasing more free and paid packs in the future so keep an eye on the app for more Sudoku content from Cracking The Cryptic!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Regex Crossword at none against Cracking the Cryptic's 13. Regex Crossword also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Cracking the Cryptic sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Regex Crossword asks for nothing beyond the download.
Regex Crossword holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 74 and 210 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 73% and 72% positive.
Regex Crossword ships an update every 11 days, Cracking the Cryptic every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Regex Crossword | Cracking the Cryptic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (74 ratings) — better | 4.4 (210 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.7% of reviews — better | 72.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 74 | 210 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 234 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ole Michelsen | Nick Carney |
Customer experience
Regex Crossword
Cracking the Cryptic
Bugs and requests
Regex Crossword
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Cracking the Cryptic
Reported bugs
4 issues- Puzzle progress and purchases disappearing after updates
- Incorrect rules or hints in certain puzzles
- Crashes and freezes, especially on older devices or Macs
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between portrait and landscape modes
Requested features
5 requests- Add more color options for pencil marking and highlighting
- Implement a way to clear progress or start puzzles from scratch
- Integrate all CTC apps into a single app for better organization
- Add keyboard support, especially on Mac
- Improve the quality and clarity of hints
In-app purchases
Regex Crossword
No in-app purchases
Cracking the Cryptic
- CTC Worms - James Sinclair$0.99
- CTC Worms - Marty Sears$0.99
- CTC Worms - Zetamath$1.99
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- CTC Worms - Blobz$1.99
- CTC Worms - Michael Lefkowitz$1.99
- CTC Worms - Phistomefel$1.99
- GAS Volume #1$2.99
- GAS Volume #2$2.99
- CTC Approachable Sudoku #1$2.99
- Domino Sudoku Pack$4.99
- Lines Variety Pack$4.99
- Classic Volume #2$4.99
- CTC Fog Pack #1$4.99
Questions
Is Regex Crossword free?
Is Cracking the Cryptic free?
Which has better reviews, Regex Crossword or Cracking the Cryptic?
Do Regex Crossword or Cracking the Cryptic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Regex Crossword or Cracking the Cryptic?
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