Comparison

Knotwords vs EST

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

EST

Features
Read full description

Twelve cards sit on the table. Three of them fit together. Your job is to see which three before the clock runs out. EST is a free card game about patterns. The deck has 81 cards, and every card combines a count, a color, a shape, and a fill. Three cards make a set when each trait is the same on all three or different on all three. If one trait splits two-and-one, they are not a set. THREE WAYS TO PLAY • Solo 81: clear the whole deck against the clock. Play a run without hints and your best time goes to the Game Center leaderboard. • Quick 27: the 27 solid cards, nine on the table, for a shorter round. • Duel: race someone on one phone, or on two devices. Play online over Game Center, or offline over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you have no signal. On iPad and an open iPhone Duo, four players share one table. LEARN THE RULE A six-step tutorial walks you through the four traits, a set that works, a set that does not, and a practice board. Open it again any time from the rules screen. EXPLORE THE MATH Every card is a point in four-dimensional space and every set is a line. Build a card from its four base-3 coordinates, then see which card completes any pair you pick. MAKE IT YOURS Pick a color theme and a fill style. Turn sound and haptics off when you want quiet. EST has no ads and no subscription, and nothing in the game is locked. There is one optional support purchase. It pays for maintenance and gives you a supporter mark, the Dusk card colors, a warm background setting, and early TestFlight builds when they are available. EST is open source. It is inspired by SET, the card game created by Marsha Falco, but uses its own name, artwork, and code. EST is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the makers of SET. Made for iPhone and iPad by Michell Zappa at Centaur Labs.

Screenshots

Knotwords4 screens
EST4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Knotwords at 13.6 against EST's 17.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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 and EST sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Knotwords ships an update every 10 days, EST every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Knotwords versus EST: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKnotwordsEST
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (8.2K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews73.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings8.2K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size507 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZach GageCENTAUR LABS OU

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

EST

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
1 purchases

EST

One-time1
  • Support EST$9.99

Questions

Is Knotwords free?
Knotwords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is EST free?
EST is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Knotwords or EST have ads?
Neither Knotwords nor EST shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Knotwords or EST?
Knotwords ships an update every 10 days, and EST every 2 weeks. Most recently, Knotwords was updated on November 11, 2026 and EST on November 6, 2026.

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