CodeWords vs CRITICSCALE
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CodeWords
A word association party game for groups of four or more. Players split into teams to guess code names based on one-word, one-digit clues given by their team captain. The first team to reveal all their agents wins, but beware the hitman.
- Team-based gameplay
- Word association clues
- Captain's role
- Hitman card risk
- Offline play possible
- Brain exercise
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CodeWords is an amusing game for companies of four or more people. The players should split into two teams and try to guess the code names of the undercover agents one by one. The first team to disclose all the names is the winner. The only thing you need to start playing is a smartphone—and a company of those who like word games and fun. This is how it works: The players split into two teams (red and blue). Each team assigns a captain. The phone screen displays a table with code names written on the CodeWords cards. The cards are colored, but only captains can see the color of the cards. Captains need to give cue words that describe one or several code names on the screen to their teams. Cue words must consist of only one word and one digit—for example, Planet 2. The word should name something that resembles the code word, and the digit shows how many code words can be associated with this cue. Players need to guess the code names from their captain’s cues and tap the correct words on the screen. The first team to find on all the cards of their color is the winner. However, if players accidentally guess their counterparts’ words, that team scores the guessed word. Last but not least, captains should avoid giving cues that may lead to the hitman card. There is only one such card on the screen. If a team taps on the hitman card, this team loses. During the game, you will: See how CodeWords, no matter what you’ve played before, is the best game to spark the most interest in all players and engage everyone deep into fun. Exercise your savvy and creative thinking by making and deciphering elaborate cues. Discover the professional word detective among you and those you want to be on the same team with during the next round. Find out who’s born to lead teams to victory—the ones you can rely on not only during the game but also in your everyday life. Warm up your brain with tricky tasks. Making cues and guesses is not only super-interesting but also helpful for your thinking—you can see why. Combine business with pleasure by playing this game! Rack your brain, win, and have fun with your friends—all at the same time. Laugh a lot, have an awesome time, make witty puns and jokes, and feel the thrill of competitiveness. This game is an inexhaustible source of sincere positivity! With CodeWords, a good time with a good company becomes the most fantastic event ever. Why play CodeWords on a smartphone: You can play any place, any time. You only need a company to play with and a smartphone—and the latter is already in your hands. Just download the app (which you can do right now) and bring your friends to play the game. It works perfectly for any occasion, be it a get-together in a cafe, a night at a friend’s place, or even a road trip. Get together with friends to play CodeWords, or bring fun to your car trip. The whole game fits on a smartphone screen, which is a real deal for those who love board games and handy interfaces. Download the CodeWords app and never worry about a big gaming table again—there’s no need to readjust your whole living room for a game night with friends. No board, no messy card decks that you can tear or lose. No huge cardboard boxes you have to stash somewhere or cram into a travel bag. All this game needs is a smartphone that can fit in your pocket. Once on your phone, CodeWords is always at hand wherever you go. A great company can crystallize on the spot—and you already have a fantastic game to play. Imagine you don’t need to worry about what to do: you can just pick up your smartphone, split into teams, and let the real fun begin. Get ready for any occasion with the CodeWords app on your phone!
CRITICSCALE
Engage in daily music trivia challenges with eight distinct mini-games. Test your knowledge of music history, artists, and albums to maintain a daily streak and compete with friends. Offers a Pro version for expanded features.
- Eight bite-sized music trivia games
- Daily streak challenges
- Leaderboards and head-to-head play
- Album cover identification
- Music fact connection game
- Artist origin guessing
- Pro version with extra features
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CRITICSCALE — DAILY MUSIC GAMES FOR PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY KNOW MUSIC. Eight bite-sized games. One streak. A fresh round of every game at local midnight, every night. Free to play forever. THE EIGHT GAMES ERAPIN — A 30-second clip plays. Drag the pin along the timeline to the year you think it dropped. Closer is more points. CHROMEVINYL — An album cover, blurred down to its palette. Identify the artist before the clues sharpen and the score drops. CRITICWEB — Connect each music fact to the artist who lived it. Build the full web — no second guesses. VINYLCRACK — Hangman, but vinyl. Guess the artist letter by letter. Eight wrong picks and the record shatters. FAKEVINYL — Four album covers. One is real. Three are convincing fakes. Five rounds of pure paranoia. BANDGRID — Sixteen tiles. Four hidden categories of four. Group them all without burning four mistakes. ORIGINMAP (Pro) — A song plays. Drop a pin on the map where you think the artist is from. BEATBLITZ — Pick a music prompt. Type as many correct answers as you can before the clock dies. Rare answers buy you more time. ONE STREAK, EVERY DAY Play any game on a given day to keep your streak alive. Build it one day at a time, lose it in a missed midnight, defend it with a streak shield. FRIENDS, NOT FEEDS Add friends, compare daily scores on the leaderboard, and challenge anyone to a 1v1 head-to-head round. No algorithmic feed, no follower counts, no rage. Just receipts. NO ADS. NO TRACKING. NO NONSENSE. We don't run third-party advertising. We don't track you across other apps. We don't sell your data. The app is free; Pro is optional. PRO Pro unlocks past challenges (replay any previous day's round), Originmap, Endless Erapin, and a few quality-of-life upgrades. Subscription billed by Apple, cancellable any time from your subscription settings. QUESTIONS support@criticscale.com — bugs, account help, anything privacy@criticscale.com — privacy and data requests criticscale.com — eight games, one streak, see for yourself Made for music nerds. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: CRITICSCALE at none against CodeWords's shown. CRITICSCALE also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.2). CodeWords's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (9 vs 2). On price, rating, 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. CodeWords sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per 7 days and CRITICSCALE sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for CodeWords against 5.0 for CRITICSCALE. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 2 respectively.
CodeWords ships an update every 5 days, CRITICSCALE every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | CodeWords | CRITICSCALE |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (9 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 9 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.2 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 79 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Artem Tischenko | CARLOS ANDRES SALAME AROSEMENA |
Customer experience
CodeWords
CRITICSCALE
In-app purchases
CodeWords
- For a week$2.497 Days
- Code Names - Annual3 Days trial$19.991 Year
CRITICSCALE
- CriticScale Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- CriticScale Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- 100 Vinyl Stars$0.99
- 550 Vinyl Stars$2.99
- 1,200 Vinyl Stars$4.99
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- 2,500 Vinyl Stars$9.99
Questions
Is CodeWords free?
Is CRITICSCALE free?
Which has better reviews, CodeWords or CRITICSCALE?
Do CodeWords or CRITICSCALE have ads?
Which is updated more often, CodeWords or CRITICSCALE?
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