Swatch This vs Retrogram
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Swatch This
A multiplayer game where players invent creative names for real paint swatches. Compete with friends or strangers to guess the official color names and earn points. Offers various game modes for different playstyles.
- Invent creative color names
- Guess real paint swatch names
- Online turn-based multiplayer
- Private matches with friends
- Pass & Play mode
- Pen & Paper mode
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Swatch This is a color naming game for 2-8 players, featuring real, outrageous paint swatches. Real-life paint colors aren’t just called yellow or pink or blue, they’re much more evocative and fun. So a yellow-gold might be “Sunny Side Up,” a bright pink “Sweet Sixteen,” or a blue “Fountain.” In Swatch This you’ll create your own color names, as serious or silly as you want. The other players in the match are making up names too, so at the end everyone will try to pick out the real name from the made-up ones. Guess the right name and you'll get points — fool another player and you’ll get more! Swatch This features multiple game modes. - Online turn-based multiplayer: play a Quick Match with a random opponent, or a private match with 1-7 friends - Pass & Play: play on a single device by taking turns - Pen & Paper: play on a single device by writing color names on paper, like a board game There are no consumable in-app purchases. Play unlimited matches in all game modes for free. If you enjoy the game, please consider buying the Palette Pack to permanently unlock many more color swatches.
Retrogram
Challenge your vocabulary with a daily word puzzle. Create as many words as possible from seven letters. Enjoy a stylish, retro-themed experience designed to sharpen your mind and introduce you to new words.
- Daily hand-made puzzles
- Solve puzzles together via SharePlay
- Apple Watch compatibility
- No ads
- Discover new words
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Think you’re a word nerd? Put your vocabulary to the test with new word puzzles every day Retrogram is a love letter to the 1970s — a cozy collection of handcrafted word games, curious words and satisfying puzzles to make part of your daily routine PLAY EVERY DAY SPELLOTRON Make as many words as you can using seven letters. Find the pangram, climb the ranks and discover interesting stories behind some of your favorite words WORDWAY Build a bridge of words from one word to another. Use the letters you’re given and find a path across the board THERE’S MORE Subscribe to Retrogram to catch up on the past week of daily puzzles, explore the Puzzle Vault, play limited-edition bonus packs, switch things up with vintage app icons, and play after dark with Neon Nites FEATURES * Two handcrafted word puzzles every day * Play today’s Spellotron and Wordway puzzles for free * Catch up on the past seven days * A growing Vault of bonus puzzles * Limited-edition puzzle packs * Neon Nites dark theme * Vintage alternate app icons * SharePlay — solve together over FaceTime * Play Spellotron on your Apple Watch * No ads, ever Additional details Privacy policy: https://retrogram.app/#privacy Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Retrogram at 4.4 against Swatch This's 4.1. Retrogram also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (66% vs 54%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Swatch This sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Retrogram sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Retrogram holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 68 and 320 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of Swatch This's written reviews are positive against 66% of Retrogram's.
Swatch This ships an update every 3 months, Retrogram every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Swatch This | Retrogram |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (68 ratings) | 4.4 (320 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 53.8% of reviews | 66.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 68 | 320 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.5 | 17.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 145 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Radio Silence | in Color |
Customer experience
Swatch This
Retrogram
Bugs and requests
Swatch This
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Retrogram
Reported bugs
7 issues- Words marked as missed that were actually found
- Puzzle letters changing when spinning the wheel
- Apple Watch app no longer functioning
- Game progress deletion without explanation
- Inconsistent word acceptance across different puzzles
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- Hint feature disappeared in recent updates
- Contact support only available through Apple Mail
Requested features
10 requests- Access to previous/archived puzzles
- Multiple puzzles per day or puzzle difficulty levels
- Statistics tracking (completion rate, pangram frequency)
- Hint system that doesn't impact streak
- Word find rate percentages for context
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- Immediate answer reveal after puzzle completion
- Cheaper one-time purchase option instead of subscription
- In-game dispute method for word validation
- Apple Watch functionality restoration
- Automatic daily prefix posting on social media
In-app purchases
Swatch This
- Palette Pack$1.99
Retrogram
- Daily Puzzle (Monthly)$4.991 Month
- Daily Puzzle (Yearly)$29.991 Year
- Where in the World$3.99
- 80s Dinner Party$4.99
- Gaming Icons$4.99
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- Stone Cold$4.99
- Flower Power$4.99
- Dear Reader$4.99
- Outer Rim$4.99
- Daily Puzzle (For Life)$49.99
