Comparison

Knotwords vs RULE

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

Head to head
About

Knotwords

A daily word puzzle game that challenges you to arrange letters into valid words across and down. Its minimal design and intuitive progression make it an engaging and accessible brain teaser.

Highlights
  • Minimalist and elegant design
  • Logic-based word puzzles
  • Daily challenges
  • Intuitive progression system
  • Valid word arrangement
Features
Read full description

Knotwords is a minimal and elegant logic puzzle — with words. The rules are simple: arrange the letters in each section so every word is valid, across and down. Each puzzle may seem difficult at first — but like all my favorite newspaper puzzles, it gets easier as you progress. Each step guides you naturally towards the solution. This is the kind of game I've been trying to make my whole career — I'm amazed Jack and I discovered this design. We hope you like it. -- Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

RULE

Features
Read full description

You are shown two or three examples. Something happens in each of them — the same thing, every time. Nobody tells you what. Then you are shown one more, unfinished, and a few ways it could end. Only one of them follows the rule. That is the whole game. No timer, no lives, no streaks, no penalty for being wrong. Just the quiet moment where you see it. ONE ANSWER. PROVED. The most common complaint about logic and pattern puzzles is the answer you could defend that was marked wrong. Here that cannot happen. Before a puzzle reaches you, it is tested against a catalogue of 556 rival rules. If any of them explains the same examples while pointing at a different answer, the puzzle is not shipped. A hard puzzle here is never a guess. 270 HANDMADE PUZZLES, TEN WORLDS CHANGE — things become other things POSITION — where something sits is the message COUNT — how many is the answer DIRECTION — orientation carries meaning INSIDE — what contains what MIRROR — reflection and symmetry SEQUENCE — order that keeps going RULES — everything at once EXCEPTION — a rule can leave something out BEFORE — new in 3.0: you are shown the result, and you work out what came before it A NEW RULE EVERY DAY One Daily Rule, the same for everyone, free forever. Put it on your Home Screen or Lock Screen with the widget, and share the puzzle with a friend — the picture shows the question, never the answer. ENDLESS Puzzles built on your own device and proved by the same code before you see them, for as long as you want them. A HINT THAT DOES NOT SOLVE IT Every puzzle has one hint. It tells you where to look, never what to think. Hints are free everywhere. NOTHING TO INTERRUPT YOU No ads. No account. No sign-in. No notifications. No timer, no score, no leaderboard, no streak to protect. Nothing is collected about you, and there is no server to collect it. Works offline. iPhone and iPad. In English, Deutsch, Français, Español, Português, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, 简体中文 and Türkçe. WHAT IS FREE, AND WHAT IS NOT Free: the first three worlds — 60 puzzles — the Daily Rule every day, and every hint. One payment, once, opens the rest: the remaining seven worlds and their 210 puzzles, Endless, the archive of every rule you have discovered, and the full statistics. No subscription. Nothing else to buy.

Screenshots

Knotwords4 screens
RULE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RULE at none against Knotwords's 2. Knotwords's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (13.6 vs 17.0). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Knotwords sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. RULE asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Knotwords ships an update every 10 days, RULE monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Knotwords versus RULE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKnotwordsRULE
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (8.2K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8.2K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size507 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZach GageMURATHAN ORAN

Bugs and requests

Knotwords

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Puzzles with missing/incorrect squares
  • Incorrect words being accepted
  • Puzzles not properly credited as completed
  • Hints not matching the correct answers

Requested features

9 requests
  • Ability to turn off haptic feedback
  • Improved cursor/input behavior
  • Cloud sync across devices
  • Difficulty settings
  • Ability to see definitions of completed words
Show 4 more
  • Restart button for puzzles
  • Customizable themes
  • Daily leaderboards
  • Ability to disable hints once used

RULE

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Knotwords

Subscriptions1
  • Knotwords Pro subscription7 Days trial$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • Full Game$11.99
None

RULE

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Knotwords free?
Knotwords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is RULE free?
RULE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Knotwords or RULE have ads?
Neither Knotwords nor RULE shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Knotwords or RULE?
Knotwords ships an update every 10 days, and RULE monthly. Most recently, Knotwords was updated on October 29, 2026 and RULE on October 23, 2026.

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