Comparison

Grid Control vs Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles

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

Head to head
About

Grid Control

Features
Read full description

A 4x4 Tic Tac Toe game with a twist: you can't move in the same row or column as the previous move made by the opponent. Features: - Single Player: Face against a skilled artificial intelligence across 8 difficulty levels. One must learn to master Control of the Grid in order to defeat all 8 levels and the difficulty automatically adjusts based on your win/lose results. - Local Multiplayer: Challenge an in-person friend by playing a friendly match on the same device. - Online Multiplayer: Face an opponent that could be anywhere else in the world and see who has better control of the grid. Matches are based on a first-come first-serve basis at this point.

About

Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles

This logic puzzle game challenges you to fill a grid with stars, ensuring no two stars touch, even diagonally. It offers daily and weekly challenges with varying difficulty levels and tracks your progress.

Highlights
  • Daily puzzle challenges
  • Leaderboards for competitive play
  • Weekly challenges for advanced players
  • Multiple difficulty levels
  • Puzzle packs for beginners
  • Solving strategy guide
  • Player stats and progress tracking
Features
Read full description

Hoshi (星, Japanese for star) is a free and competitive Star Battle game with daily challenges. Star Battle, also known as "Two Not Touch", is a classic pen-and-paper logic puzzle published in newspapers and puzzle magazines worldwide. If you enjoy playing tricky puzzles and brain-teasing games and seek a new challenge, then you should give Hoshi a try. If you have never played the Star Battle logic game before, don’t worry the rules are straight forward: Similar to other logic puzzles you have a grid that you need to fill. In a normal 2 star “Two Not Touch” game each row, column, and region must have exactly 2 stars. Stars are not allowed to touch, even not diagonally. Hoshi includes Star Battles with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 stars, but games with more stars are yet to come ;) Hoshi offers you: - Everyday we release a new number game (daily puzzle challenge) - Track your solving time and compete against other players (leaderboards) - There is also a weekly challenge for geniuses (3 star plus games) - There are 5 different difficulties (easy to diabolical) - Packs with hand-selected logic puzzle (e.g. for beginners) - Guide with solving strategies - Profile with stats about your skill level & progress Coming soon: - Add your friends and play with them a numbers puzzle - Star Battle games with more than 5 stars Privacy policy: https://guriddo.app/hoshi/legal/privacy Terms of use: https://guriddo.app/hoshi/legal/tos

Screenshots

Grid Control4 screens
Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Grid Control at none against Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles's 10. Grid Control also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.6). Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 19 months). On price 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

Both are free to download. Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.79 per 7 days. Grid Control asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Grid Control ships an update every 19 months, Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Grid Control versus Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrid ControlStar Battle Hoshi Puzzles
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.8 (272 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—59.1% of reviews
Number of ratings—272 — better
Update frequencyEvery 19 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size72 MB75 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCory HarashaSimon Schuster

In-app purchases

None

Grid Control

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles

Subscriptions3
  • Supporter (Weekly)$0.797 Days
  • Supporter (Monthly)$2.491 Month
  • Supporter (Annual)$14.991 Year
One-time7
  • Beginner Pack 3$1.99
  • Beginner Pack 5$1.99
  • Beginner Pack 4$1.99
Show 4 more
  • Advanced Pack 4$2.99
  • Advanced Pack 2$2.99
  • Advanced Pack 3$2.99
  • Expert Pack 2$2.99

Questions

Is Grid Control free?
Grid Control is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles free?
Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Grid Control or Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles have ads?
Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles shows ads; Grid Control does not.
Which is updated more often, Grid Control or Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles?
Grid Control ships an update every 19 months, and Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles every 2 weeks. Most recently, Grid Control was updated on November 3, 2026 and Star Battle Hoshi Puzzles on November 3, 2026.

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