Comparison

Window Puzzles vs Shanghai Ultra

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • 7 board layouts
  • Multiple tile styles
  • Customizable themes
  • Guaranteed solvable deals
  • Score tracking
  • Leaderboards
  • Global Daily Challenges
Features
Read full description

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

Shanghai Ultra4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Window Puzzles ships an update monthly, Shanghai Ultra every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Window Puzzles versus Shanghai Ultra: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWindow PuzzlesShanghai Ultra
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.8 (115 ratings) — better4.8 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings115 — better4
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size613 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCleverInfoJonathan Clarke

Customer experience

Window Puzzles

All ratings100 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral3.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Shanghai Ultra

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Window Puzzles

One-time9
  • Puzzle Pack 1 : 14 x MixedFree
  • Puzzle Pack 2 : 14 x ChurchFree
  • Puzzle Pack 3 : 14 Non-Relig.Free
Show 6 more
  • 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
None

Shanghai Ultra

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Window Puzzles free?
Window Puzzles is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shanghai Ultra free?
Shanghai Ultra costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Window Puzzles or Shanghai Ultra?
Window Puzzles is rated higher. Window Puzzles averages 4.8 out of 5 from 115 ratings, while Shanghai Ultra averages 4.8 from 4 ratings.
Do Window Puzzles or Shanghai Ultra have ads?
Neither Window Puzzles nor Shanghai Ultra shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Window Puzzles or Shanghai Ultra?
Window Puzzles ships an update monthly, and Shanghai Ultra every 6 days. Most recently, Window Puzzles was updated on October 24, 2026 and Shanghai Ultra on October 24, 2026.

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