Comparison

Chinese Drop vs Gridlock

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

Head to head
About

Chinese Drop

Features
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Blocks fall and you combine them to form Chinese characters known as hanzi or words! This is great for you if: 1) You are new to Mandarin Chinese and want a fun way to learn a lot of hanzi easily; or 2) You are advanced in Chinese and want a fun game to test and sharpen your skills; or 3) You love brain training apps and would like one where you train your brain and learn a language with very little effort at all and a lot of fun -- it's BrainTraining++! More: Thanks for checking out my app! I'm a solo-developer trying to make learning fun and easy! :-D Blocks with Chinese hanzi on them fall and you try to eliminate them by forming words and and activating hanzi-related powerups by combining them into more complex hanzi. It's a great way to learn hanzi for beginners, a fun alternative to flashcards for advanced learners as you can import your study decks, and a fun game overall! :D There are also fun minigames and focused learning tools to keep you learning hanzi and words as you play! This works great in conjunction with other apps and resources! Tired of playing games where you spend a lot of time and have nothing to show for it? You compare yourself before and after and you're just ... less bored. Well, if you'd rather spend your time more productively and have fun, try Chinese Drop where you can learn how to read Chinese without any effort at all! You'll find yourself in a relaxed state picking up a lot of hanzi and words almost passively! No stress, only fun! Chinese hanzi are the ideograms found in Chinese that are kind of like letters, but represent an idea, like gold, fish, sun, etc.! Now learn them in this falling block puzzle hanzi game where you'll find emoji to help you learn hanzi, POWERUPS that relate to the hanzi, and a fully functional glossary. You can even narrow down your learning list to hanzi for the HSK! You can even review hanzi from your text book lesson, like Integrated Chinese! You can also play in a learning mode with more time between hanzi! Learning hanzi has never been easier or more fun! Learn Chinese hanzi by dropping blocks to make hanzi and words! Make hanzi from their parts and words from other hanzi! Blow them up by making words or filling your limit meter and they all EXPLODE! Learn Chinese hanzi for fun or proficiency. Every time you make a word or hanzi, its meaning is spoken and you also hear the pronunciation of words. You also learn how to make hanzi from their parts. You can find links to stories, links to practice sentences, as well as animated stroke order diagrams and a list of your favorite hanzi. Open to all skill levels! It starts off easy and gives you hints when you're stuck. Keep playing and you'll find yourself recognizing more and more hanzi!

About

Gridlock

Features
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Free. No ads. No in-app purchases. Just pure gameplay. Draw flight paths, land aircraft, and keep the terminal alive in a fast-paced air traffic control arcade game. The terminal is open. The sky is already too busy. In Gridlock: Terminal, you control a crowded airspace where every aircraft needs a safe route home. Draw flight paths, guide aircraft to the correct runway, avoid hazards, and survive as the skies become increasingly chaotic. One bad route can cause a crash. One missed hazard can end the run. One more landing can beat your high score. Simple to learn. Difficult to master. NEW: Daily Dispatch Take on one official challenge every day. You get one attempt, one score, and one chance to climb the leaderboard before tomorrow's dispatch arrives. Compete on Game Center, unlock achievements, and become Terminal Master. Features - Draw flight paths with one finger - Land planes, jets, heavy aircraft, and helicopters - Match aircraft to the correct runway or helipad - Avoid birds, turbulence, screen edges, and mid-air collisions - Survive increasingly busy airspace - Take on the Daily Dispatch challenge - Compete on Game Center leaderboards - Unlock achievements and milestones - Chase your personal best - Quick arcade sessions built for "one more try" - Free to play Every landing counts. Every decision matters. How long can you keep the terminal alive?

Screenshots

Chinese Drop4 screens
Gridlock4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Gridlock at none against Chinese Drop's 4. Gridlock also leads on ads (none vs shown). Chinese Drop's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.4). On price and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Chinese Drop sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Gridlock asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chinese Drop ships an update every 4 days, Gridlock every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 2 level
Chinese Drop versus Gridlock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChinese DropGridlock
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 3 days โ€” better
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS11.0 โ€” better16.4
Further details โ€” not scored
Size410 MB57 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInternational Technology Consulting LLCYusuf Yasin

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Chinese Drop

One-time4
  • 100 Coins$4.99
  • 500 Coins$5.99
  • 1000 Coins$6.99
Show 1 more
  • 2000 Coins$9.99
None

Gridlock

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chinese Drop free?
Chinese Drop is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Gridlock free?
Gridlock is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Chinese Drop or Gridlock have ads?
Chinese Drop shows ads; Gridlock does not.
Which is updated more often, Chinese Drop or Gridlock?
Chinese Drop ships an update every 4 days, and Gridlock every 3 days. Most recently, Chinese Drop was updated on October 8, 2026 and Gridlock on October 1, 2026.

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