Comparison

Achromatic! vs Knotwords

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

Head to head
About

Achromatic!

A minimalist puzzle game where you connect dots of the same color to achieve a single cohesive hue. Strategically draw lines, utilizing unique dot properties to solve increasingly complex levels. Enjoy a relaxing soundtrack and a smooth difficulty curve with bonus challenges.

Highlights
  • Connect same-colored dots
  • Unique dot properties
  • 60 handcrafted levels
  • 10 bonus levels
  • Color blind mode
  • Original soundtrack
Features
Read full description

Achromatic is a minimalist puzzle game about connecting dots in order to transform them all to one cohesive color. Draw a straight line between two dots of the same color to paint the dots between them. However, you can only change dots of one color at a time. You'll quickly encounter unique dots with exciting properties. For example the square dot lets you change the direction of your line, or the triangle dots are synchronized such that changing one of them changes all of them. Achromatic features an original and relaxing sound track to accompany its polished minimalist aesthetic. Its smooth difficulty curve will teach you the mechanics and gently ease you into more difficult levels. All levels were carefully designed by hand to ensure the best puzzling experience possible. For those craving a challenge, bonus levels are available after beating the game to really test your logic skills. Features: • 60 handcrafted level plus 10 challenging bonus levels • Unique dots with special properties • Supports both vertical and horizontal orientation • Color blind mode

About

Knotwords

A daily word puzzle game that challenges you to arrange letters into valid words across and down. Its minimal design and intuitive progression make it an engaging and accessible brain teaser.

Highlights
  • Minimalist and elegant design
  • Logic-based word puzzles
  • Daily challenges
  • Intuitive progression system
  • Valid word arrangement
Features
Read full description

Knotwords is a minimal and elegant logic puzzle — with words. The rules are simple: arrange the letters in each section so every word is valid, across and down. Each puzzle may seem difficult at first — but like all my favorite newspaper puzzles, it gets easier as you progress. Each step guides you naturally towards the solution. This is the kind of game I've been trying to make my whole career — I'm amazed Jack and I discovered this design. We hope you like it. -- Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Achromatic!4 screens
Knotwords4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Knotwords at Free against Achromatic!'s $2.99. Knotwords also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (73% vs 38%). Achromatic!'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 13.6). On ads 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

Knotwords is free to download; Achromatic! costs $2.99 up front. Knotwords sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. Achromatic! asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Knotwords holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Knotwords has 8.2K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of Achromatic!'s written reviews are positive against 73% of Knotwords's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Achromatic! ships an update every 9 months, Knotwords every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Achromatic! versus Knotwords: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAchromatic!Knotwords
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (4 ratings)4.8 (8.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews38.0% of reviews73.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings48.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better13.6
Further details — not scored
Size101 MB507 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNick CarneyZach Gage

Customer experience

Achromatic!

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive38.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative54.0%

Knotwords

All ratings8,097 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral2.1%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews293 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral13.3%
Negative13.7%

User reviews

Achromatic!

From 4 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive and challenging
  • 🧘 Relaxing and focusing
  • ✨ Minimalist design
  • 🧠 Addictive puzzler
  • 💡 Totally original concept

Room to improve

  • ⚠️ Too hard for some
  • ❌ Game doesn't load
  • 🚫 Subscription required
  • ⏳ Trial too short
  • 💰 Expensive subscription

Knotwords

From 8.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 👍 Fun and challenging
  • 🚀 Simple but engaging
  • 👍 Unique concept
  • 👍 Addictive

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Buggy cursor/input issues
  • 🐛 Slow performance
  • 🐛 Questionable word choices
  • 🔋 Battery drain

Bugs and requests

Achromatic!

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App stuck on loading screen
  • Three circling dots issue
  • Subscription glitch

Requested features

5 requests
  • More levels/content
  • Hint button
  • Skip button
  • Color blind support
  • Night shift mode

Knotwords

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Puzzles with missing/incorrect squares
  • Incorrect words being accepted
  • Puzzles not properly credited as completed
  • Hints not matching the correct answers

Requested features

9 requests
  • Ability to turn off haptic feedback
  • Improved cursor/input behavior
  • Cloud sync across devices
  • Difficulty settings
  • Ability to see definitions of completed words
Show 4 more
  • Restart button for puzzles
  • Customizable themes
  • Daily leaderboards
  • Ability to disable hints once used

In-app purchases

None

Achromatic!

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Knotwords

Subscriptions1
  • Knotwords Pro subscription7 Days trial$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • Full Game$11.99

Questions

Is Achromatic! free?
Achromatic! costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Knotwords free?
Knotwords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Achromatic! or Knotwords?
Knotwords is rated higher. Achromatic! averages 4.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Knotwords averages 4.8 from 8.2K ratings.
Do Achromatic! or Knotwords have ads?
Neither Achromatic! nor Knotwords shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Achromatic! or Knotwords?
Achromatic! ships an update every 9 months, and Knotwords every 10 days. Most recently, Achromatic! was updated on October 20, 2026 and Knotwords on October 24, 2026.

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