Comparison

Grindstone vs Patterned

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

Head to head
About

Grindstone

Engage in a challenging puzzle-battle game where you slash your way up a treacherous mountain. Cleave through swarms of enemies, battle bosses, and discover blueprints for powerful gear. Over 200 levels of intense puzzle-battling await.

Highlights
  • Sword-slashing puzzle battles
  • Over 200 levels
  • Battle bosses
  • Loot resources
  • Discover gear blueprints
  • Cleave deadly foes
Features
Read full description

GRINDSTONE is a game of sword-slashing puzzle battles from the award-winning creators of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes and Critter Crunch! Grindstone Mountain is overrun with vicious Creeps! Slay your way up its treacherous peak where fortune, glory (and death) awaits! It’ll take sharp puzzle skills and an even sharper blade to cleave your way through the swarms of bloodthirsty Creeps dwelling within Grindstone’s dungeons. Battle bosses, loot resources, discover long-lost blueprints for powerful gear, all while cleaving the innards from your deadly foes! Now with more than 200 levels of intense puzzle-battling madness!

About

Patterned

A unique puzzle game where you reassemble scrambled, repeating patterns. Solve intricate designs inspired by global art and enjoy a relaxing soundtrack. Download solved patterns as wallpapers for your device.

Highlights
  • Reassemble repeating patterns
  • Visual clue-based gameplay
  • Relaxing music soundtrack
  • Thousands of handcrafted designs
  • Real-time multiplayer
  • Downloadable wallpapers
  • Cross-device progress saving
Features
Read full description

Patterned is a unique puzzle game that immerses you in the beauty and joy of seamless, repeating patterns. Each pattern begins as a sketch and you must use visual clues to reassemble its scrambled pieces. Piece by piece, each pattern begins to come alive in increasing amounts of color and structure. When the final piece is placed, the pattern fills the screen in full color. Inspired by jigsaw puzzles, but with a unique twist… In Patterned, your objective is to rebuild a scrambled pattern tile that is seamlessly repeating across the screen. As you place pieces you’ll quickly discover that the puzzle’s edges are repeated on the other side. Use these visual clues to help solve each puzzle! Beautiful music… Relax, zone out and play at your own pace as a peaceful music soundtrack accompanies gameplay. Patterned features well over 6 hours of music in both piano and ambient styles, by over 10 well-known musicial composers including Dear Gravity, Be Still the Earth, Antarctic Wastelands and many more. Inspired by design from around the world… Patterned features thousands of beautiful, handcrafted patterns created by dozens of the best pattern designers from around the world. Made for adults and kids alike… From flowers to watercolor paintings, or from dinosaurs to kung fu sushi, Patterned is full of fun designs made for absolutely everyone! Real-time multiplayer... Assemble patterns with anyone else, from anywhere in the world, in real time! Wallpapers galore... With each pattern that you solve, you can download a beautiful wallpaper to your device! Available for iOS and macOS only. Take your time… Easily start a puzzle on a device and finish it later. Even begin on one device and continue on a different device! Constantly updated... We are obsessed with not only keeping our game running smoothly, but constantly adding new patterns and regularly adding new features!

Screenshots

Grindstone4 screens
Patterned4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Patterned at 38K against Grindstone's 6.7K. Grindstone's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Grindstone against 4.8 for Patterned. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Patterned has 38K ratings behind it against 6.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of Grindstone's written reviews are positive against 71% of Patterned's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Grindstone ships an update every 6 weeks, Patterned every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Grindstone versus Patterned: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrindstonePatterned
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (6.7K ratings)4.8 (38K ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.1% of reviews — better70.9% of reviews
Number of ratings6.7K38K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size988 MB764 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperCapybara Games Inc.BorderLeap

Customer experience

Grindstone

All ratings6,673 ratings
Positive91.5%
Neutral3.2%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews1,127 reviews
Positive78.1%
Neutral7.3%
Negative14.6%

Patterned

All ratings38,453 ratings
Positive96.5%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.2%
Written reviews1,027 reviews
Positive70.9%
Neutral12.0%
Negative17.1%

User reviews

Grindstone

From 6.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Unique and charming art style
  • 🎨 Excellent soundtrack and sound effects
  • 💡 Satisfying chain combos
  • 🕹️ Intuitive and challenging mechanics

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • ⏱️ Unskippable animations
  • 🔄 Progress loss when switching apps
  • 🤔 Difficulty spike in later levels

Patterned

From 38K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Beautiful artwork and patterns
  • 🎶 Calming and relaxing music
  • 🧠 Challenging yet satisfying puzzles
  • 👍 No ads or in-app purchases
  • 🌟 Gorgeous wallpapers from completed puzzles

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Difficulty finding incomplete puzzles
  • 🎨 Washed out colors on some puzzles
  • 🧩 Pieces sometimes snap to incorrect locations
  • 🔁 Repeating patterns can be frustrating
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches

Bugs and requests

Grindstone

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing on black screen after intro
  • Inability to complete certain levels due to glitches
  • Disappearing save data after updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • More levels and content updates
  • Ability to save progress mid-level
  • Option to disable animations
  • Landscape mode support on iPad
  • In-game enemy encyclopedia

Patterned

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Tutorial puzzle missing final piece
  • Some puzzles appear incomplete or have missing pieces
  • Multiplayer mode has connectivity issues
  • App gets stuck on loading screen for some users

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add option to view only incomplete puzzles
  • Improve contrast and visibility of puzzle pieces
  • Allow pieces to be placed anywhere, not just in central grid
  • Provide more diverse and representative artwork
  • Add ability to download completed puzzles as wallpapers

In-app purchases

None

Grindstone

No in-app purchases

None

Patterned

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Grindstone free?
Grindstone is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Patterned free?
Patterned is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Grindstone or Patterned?
Patterned is rated higher. Grindstone averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.7K ratings, while Patterned averages 4.8 from 38K ratings.
Do Grindstone or Patterned have ads?
Neither Grindstone nor Patterned shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Grindstone or Patterned?
Grindstone ships an update every 6 weeks, and Patterned every 3 weeks. Most recently, Grindstone was updated on September 26, 2026 and Patterned on September 27, 2026.

Other comparisons