Window Puzzles vs Shanghai Ultra
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Window Puzzles
Rebuild intricate stained glass windows by placing glass shards in their correct positions. Offers a peaceful, educational, and family-friendly puzzle experience with adjustable difficulty and helpful tools.
- 126 unique stained glass window puzzles
- Drag and drop interface
- Adjustable difficulty levels
- Automatic saving of progress
- Optional guides (outlines, ghost image)
- Auto-Zoom for small pieces
- Game Center achievements
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Can you rebuild these beautiful stained glass windows? Like a jigsaw puzzle but each piece is a shard of glass which needs to be put back into the right place. 126 window puzzles available to play immediately! EASY TO LEARN Simple drag and drop interface that works for adults and children. A simple tutorial on "How To Play" is included. Puzzles in each pack start easy and get harder the more you do. HARD TO MASTER Puzzles range from easy (solve in minutes) through to very hard (an hour or more). But don't worry, your placed pieces are automatically saved so you can do the puzzle over several sessions. You can also turn on and off useful guides like outlines or a ghost image depending on how hard you want it to be. And if some pieces are too small, just turn on the Auto-Zoom feature. Can you earn all the Game Center achievements? EDUCATIONAL As you concentrate on each piece in the puzzle you see details of the window that aren't immediately obvious when looking at the completed window. See the window as the original artist did - an element at a time. Once a puzzle is completed you can explore a zoomed in version to see all the detail. FAMILY FRIENDLY All puzzles are family friendly with the easier puzzles well suited to your younger puzzlers. PEACEFUL An uncluttered puzzle solving space lets you be in the moment as you work your way through the puzzle at your own pace. BEAUTIFUL Work with some of the most glorious stained glass windows from around the world. HELPFUL Some of the puzzles are hard. If you get stuck, use the Shuffle button to get new pieces, the Auto Fill feature to put those difficult pieces into their correct places or a Ghost image to help you find the right place. CONNECTED Works on your iPads and Macs. In-App purchases of puzzle packs are shared between your devices and you can easily enable synching up Puzzle completion progress between them. Start of one device and finish it on another.
Shanghai Ultra
A beautifully crafted mahjong solitaire game focused on clean, satisfying tile matching. Offers multiple board layouts, tile styles, and themes for a personalized experience. Every game is solvable, ensuring fair challenges.
- 7 board layouts
- Multiple tile styles
- Customizable themes
- Guaranteed solvable deals
- Score tracking
- Leaderboards
- Global Daily Challenges
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Shanghai Ultra is mahjong solitaire the way it should be — clean, focused, and beautifully crafted. Match pairs of free tiles to clear the board. Simple to learn, endlessly satisfying to master. Every deal is guaranteed solvable, so the challenge is always fair. Choose from beautifully crafted traditionally inspired tiles or try the fun emoji based sets. Seven board layouts range from a quick 56-tile game to the full 186-tile Turtle. Rich felt-textured backgrounds and five colour themes set the mood. No ads. No interruptions. Just you and the tiles. FEATURES • 7 board layouts: Quick, Dragon, Phoenix, Turtle, Fortress, Pyramid, and Cross • Multiple tile styles from classic to playful, including a Clear tile style optimised for great visibility • Background themes with subtle felt texture • Every deal is guaranteed solvable • Score tracking with hints, shuffle, and timer • Leaderboard with iCloud sync across devices • Game Center support - Leaderboards, Achievements, and Challenges • Take part in fun Global Daily Challenges with the Quick layout • Light, dark, and system appearance modes • Designed for iPhone, iPad, and Mac
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Window Puzzles at Free against Shanghai Ultra's $1.99. Window Puzzles also leads on ratings volume (115 vs 4) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). Shanghai Ultra's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and update cadence (every 6 days vs monthly). On rating, review sentiment, 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
Window Puzzles is free to download; Shanghai Ultra costs $1.99 up front. Window Puzzles sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Shanghai Ultra asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Window Puzzles against 4.8 for Shanghai Ultra. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Window Puzzles has 115 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Window Puzzles ships an update monthly, Shanghai Ultra every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Window Puzzles | Shanghai Ultra |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (115 ratings) — better | 4.8 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 115 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 613 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CleverInfo | Jonathan Clarke |
Customer experience
Window Puzzles
Shanghai Ultra
In-app purchases
Window Puzzles
- Puzzle Pack 1 : 14 x MixedFree
- Puzzle Pack 2 : 14 x ChurchFree
- Puzzle Pack 3 : 14 Non-Relig.Free
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- Puzzle Pack 4 : 14xTiffanyFree
- Puzzle Pack 5 : 14 Tall WindowFree
- Unlock all Window PuzzlesFree
- Puzzle Pack 6 : 14 x USAFree
- Puzzle Pack 7 : 14 x ColourfulFree
- Puzzle Pack 8 : 14 InterestingFree
Shanghai Ultra
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Window Puzzles free?
Is Shanghai Ultra free?
Which has better reviews, Window Puzzles or Shanghai Ultra?
Do Window Puzzles or Shanghai Ultra have ads?
Which is updated more often, Window Puzzles or Shanghai Ultra?
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