Comparison

Moonlight Mahjong Lite vs Spellist

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

Head to head
About

Moonlight Mahjong Lite

Experience Mahjong Solitaire in immersive 3D with intuitive touch controls. Choose from competitive arcade-style modes with increasing difficulty or relax with non-competitive options. Enjoy a classic puzzle game designed for iPhone and iPad.

Highlights
  • Virtual reality 3D Mahjong Solitaire
  • Intuitive touch controls
  • Arcade-style progressive levels
  • Non-competitive relaxation modes
  • Scramble, Challenge, Puzzle, and Relaxation modes
  • Original 3D Mahjong Solitaire on iOS
Features
Read full description

Moonlight Mahjong is Mahjong Solitaire in virtual reality 3D, designed specifically for the iPhone and iPad. Intuitive touch control allows you to tilt and turn, zoom in and out to match tiles in 3D. Play “arcade style” with progressively difficult levels and high scores, or relax with one of the non-competitive game modes. The gameplay is simple yet addictive. Moonlight Mahjong features four main types of play: • Scramble Mode: Match tiles faster than the automated opponent "Tilebot" through increasingly difficult levels. The board is automatically reshuffled when you run out of matches, making this game mode easy to start and fun, yet challenging on the higher levels. • Challenge Mode: Compete against Tilebot in full puzzle mode, with no automatic reshuffling, only undo. Challenge requires more strategy than Scramble. This is the ‘pure’ form of the game, but it is difficult! • Puzzle Mode: Solve puzzle boards with no time limit. Choose any layouts you like. This is the original game mode, what people usually think of as Mahjong Solitaire. • Relaxation Mode: Clear boards with no time limit and automatic reshuffling when out of matches. Perfect for when you're just not in the mood to strategize or rush. This free advertising-supported version of Moonlight Mahjong features five complete game modes (the main four, plus 'Lightning Mode'). The full version of Moonlight Mahjong offers a few additional features with no advertisements. Moonlight Mahjong is the original 3D Mahjong Solitaire on iOS, having debuted with the launch of the App Store in 2008. It has been played millions of times and was honored as a "Best Board Game" on the App Store.

About

Spellist

Engage in a vibrant word puzzle game with hundreds of offline boards and competitive multiplayer challenges. Test your vocabulary and strategic thinking in this fast-paced twist on classic word searches.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of offline word puzzle boards
  • Quick-fire 4x4 to complex 6x6 grids
  • Global real-time PvP multiplayer
  • Leaderboards for competitive ranking
  • Live event feed for real-time action
  • Scheduled live multiplayer rounds
Features
Read full description

**Unleash Your Inner Wordsmith** Dive into the mystical world of **Spellist**, where every letter counts and every path makes magic. Spellist offers a fresh-faced, fast-paced, vibrant twist on the classic grid word search. **Solo Mastery** Hone your skills with hundreds of curated offline boards. Ranging from 4x4 quick-fire grids to complex 6x6 challenges, there’s always a new puzzle to solve. Can you find every word and rack up the bonus stars? **Massive Multiplayer Arena (PvP)** Think you’re the best? Prove it. Subscribe to enter the global arena where you compete simultaneously against Spellists from around the world. Same board, same clock, one winner. - **Leaderboards**: See how you fared agaist Spellists playing along with you. - **Thrillfeed**: Feel the energy of the crowd! Watch as players break records and hit massive bonuses in real-time via the live event feed. Take inspiration to send your own achievements to the world. - **Live Events**: Join massive scheduled rounds and raid the top of the charts.

Screenshots

Moonlight Mahjong Lite4 screens
Spellist3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Moonlight Mahjong Lite at Free against Spellist's $1.99. Moonlight Mahjong Lite also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (15K vs 1). Spellist's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). On in-app purchases 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

Moonlight Mahjong Lite is free to download; Spellist costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Moonlight Mahjong Lite holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Moonlight Mahjong Lite has 15K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 82% of Moonlight Mahjong Lite's written reviews are positive against 100% of Spellist's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Moonlight Mahjong Lite ships an update every 3 weeks, Spellist every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Moonlight Mahjong Lite versus Spellist: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMoonlight Mahjong LiteSpellist
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.7 (15K ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews82.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB90 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperMidnight MartianOori Data LLC

Customer experience

Moonlight Mahjong Lite

All ratings14,860 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral3.2%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews610 reviews
Positive82.3%
Neutral6.1%
Negative11.6%

Spellist

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Moonlight Mahjong Lite

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Freezing during shuffling
  • Tilebot continuing to play during freezes
  • Tiles not registering matches
  • Layouts not fitting screen properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Adjustable tilebot speed
  • Ability to save progress
  • Relaxation mode without time pressure
  • Option to rate/filter layouts
  • Customizable tile/background options

Spellist

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Moonlight Mahjong Lite

No in-app purchases

None

Spellist

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Moonlight Mahjong Lite free?
Moonlight Mahjong Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spellist free?
Spellist costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Moonlight Mahjong Lite or Spellist?
Moonlight Mahjong Lite is rated higher. Moonlight Mahjong Lite averages 4.7 out of 5 from 15K ratings, while Spellist averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Moonlight Mahjong Lite or Spellist have ads?
Moonlight Mahjong Lite shows ads; Spellist does not.
Which is updated more often, Moonlight Mahjong Lite or Spellist?
Moonlight Mahjong Lite ships an update every 3 weeks, and Spellist every 5 days. Most recently, Moonlight Mahjong Lite was updated on October 20, 2026 and Spellist on October 8, 2026.

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