Comparison

15.Puzzle vs Cardinal Chains

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

Head to head
About

15.Puzzle

Transform your personal photos into engaging sliding tile puzzles. Enjoy daily curated challenges, track your progress, and compete with others globally. Play quick, satisfying rounds anytime, anywhere.

Highlights
  • Create puzzles from personal photos
  • Daily curated puzzles
  • Two difficulty levels (3x3, 4x4)
  • Global leaderboards
  • Smart hint system
  • Share solved puzzles
Features
Read full description

Turn any picture into a puzzle. Photo Slide Puzzle takes the sliding tile game and adds the one thing it was always missing: your photos. Pick an image from your camera roll, snap a fresh one, or play today's curated daily puzzle. Every picture becomes a satisfying sliding puzzle you race to reconstruct. WHAT'S INSIDE - Your photos, your puzzles. Use any image from your library or take one with the camera. Family moments, vacation snapshots, pet portraits — anything becomes a puzzle you actually care about solving. - A new daily puzzle every day. Open the app each morning to find a fresh curated image. Solve consecutive days to build your streak — see how far you can go. - Two difficulty levels. Easy (3×3) for a quick session in line at the coffee shop, Hard (4×4) for a real challenge. - Live scoring and best-time tracking. Beat your personal records, then climb the Game Center leaderboards against players around the world. - Smart hint system. Stuck on a tricky puzzle? Use a peek to glance at the original image. Watch a short video to have one piece snapped automatically into its correct spot. - Designed for iPhone and iPad. Rotate freely — the puzzle reflows. Sharp at every screen size, in Split View, and on every recent device. - Made for fast, satisfying sessions. Each round runs 2 to 4 minutes. Perfect for waiting rooms, commutes, lunch breaks, and the ten minutes before bed. - Share your solves. Send a finished puzzle as an image to friends and family. NO LOGIN. NO SUBSCRIPTION. NO REGISTRATION. Just open the app and play. Game Center sign-in is optional and only used for global leaderboards. We hope you love it. If you do, please leave a review — it genuinely helps small developers keep building.

About

Cardinal Chains

A minimalist puzzle game where players link numbers in non-decreasing sequences to fill a monochrome grid with color. It offers a relaxing experience with a handcrafted soundtrack and elegant design, free from timers or ads.

Highlights
  • 500 unique handcrafted puzzles
  • Non-decreasing sequence gameplay
  • Chill-out soundtrack
  • Minimalist design
  • Customizable color themes
  • Achievements and cloud saves
Features
Read full description

Cardinal Chains is a minimalist puzzle game centering on the concept of non-decreasing sequences. Each puzzle begins with a monochrome grid of numbers, plus a few colored cells marked with an X. Starting at these cells, you must link up numbers in non-decreasing order until the whole grid is filled with color. • 500 unique, carefully handcrafted puzzles of varying difficulty, each with a single solution • Beautiful, lengthy chill-out soundtrack created by accomplished professional artists • Minimalist, elegant design without timers, ads, purchases or other hassles - just pure gameplay • Several built-in color themes, including colorblind options. Or... • ...make your own color themes - right from within the game! • Features achievements and cloud saves

Screenshots

15.Puzzle4 screens
Cardinal Chains4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: 15.Puzzle at Free against Cardinal Chains's $2.99. 15.Puzzle also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months). Cardinal Chains's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (24 vs 4). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

15.Puzzle is free to download; Cardinal Chains costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cardinal Chains holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cardinal Chains has 24 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

15.Puzzle ships an update every 3 weeks, Cardinal Chains every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 1, 2026 and July 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
15.Puzzle versus Cardinal Chains: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter15.PuzzleCardinal Chains
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.3 (4 ratings)4.9 (24 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings424 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.6
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB101 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBothina ElzoobiDaniel Nora

Customer experience

15.Puzzle

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

Cardinal Chains

All ratings24 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

15.Puzzle

No in-app purchases

None

Cardinal Chains

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 15.Puzzle free?
15.Puzzle is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cardinal Chains free?
Cardinal Chains costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, 15.Puzzle or Cardinal Chains?
Cardinal Chains is rated higher. 15.Puzzle averages 4.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Cardinal Chains averages 4.9 from 24 ratings.
Do 15.Puzzle or Cardinal Chains have ads?
Neither 15.Puzzle nor Cardinal Chains shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 15.Puzzle or Cardinal Chains?
15.Puzzle ships an update every 3 weeks, and Cardinal Chains every 5 months. Most recently, 15.Puzzle was updated on September 1, 2026 and Cardinal Chains on July 8, 2026.

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