Comparison

Tricky Gems vs 3 Blocks!

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

Head to head
About

Tricky Gems

A fast-paced tile-matching puzzle game where you guide falling gem columns to create matches of three or more. Clear the board, build combos, and climb the leaderboards. Special bomb columns and power-ups add strategic depth to the escalating challenge.

Highlights
  • Tile-matching puzzle gameplay
  • Match lines or diagonals of three or more gems
  • Score points and build combos
  • Escalating difficulty with faster falling columns
  • Special bomb column power-up
  • Unlock 23 achievements
Features
Read full description

Tricky Gems is a fast-paced tile-matching puzzle game for iOS and macOS that will challenge your reflexes and strategic thinking from the very first drop. Guide columns of three gems as they fall into the playing field and match lines or diagonals of three or more to score points. Clear the board efficiently, rack up combos, and climb the leaderboard as high as you can. Every level brings a new challenge — the columns fall faster, the pressure builds, and the background shifts to keep things fresh. At the end of each level, a special bomb column sweeps the field, destroying every gem that matches its color. You can also trigger this power move manually once your Power-up Bar is full. Run out of space and the game ends in a spectacular explosion of bombs. Prove your skills by unlocking all 23 Achievements — some require true mastery of the game. You will need sharp focus, quick reflexes, and a solid strategy to earn the ultimate title: Gem Legend. Good luck!

About

3 Blocks!

A tile-matching puzzle game where players arrange falling blocks to create full lines and clear space. Compete for high scores in Classic mode or race to clear lines quickly in Speed mode. Offers cognitive benefits with regular play.

Highlights
  • Tile-matching puzzle gameplay
  • Classic mode for high scores
  • Speed mode for quick line clearing
  • Next piece preview
  • Hard drop functionality
  • Cognitive function enhancement
Features
Read full description

In this tile-matching puzzle game, pieces of different shapes are falling down from the top of the game screen, one after the other. You have to move these pieces during their falling using the arrow keys to organize where it lands at the bottom of the game screen, in order to keep a maximum of empty space for the next pieces, because your objective is to get as much pieces as possible within the screen. If you arrange them in such a way that a line becomes full (no empty square), this one will be removed and you gain free room. To help you, while a piece is falling down, the next piece to come is shown in the upper left corner. If you should think that a piece is falling down too slowly, you can press the HARD DROP button to make it reach the bottom directly. ENJOY PLAYING WITH 2 DIFFERENT MODES: 1. CLASSIC mode: Create horizontal lines compose of 10 units without gaps and get the highest score in CLASSIC mode. When a certain number of lines are cleared, the game enters a new level. The number of lines required vary upon each new level. 2. SPEED mode: Clear 20 lines as quickly as possible. You can control the level to adjust the speed of blocks in this mode. Effect of ‘3 Blocks!’ on the brain: According to research, prolonged ‘3 Blocks!’ activity can also lead to more efficient brain activity during play. When first playing ‘3 Blocks!’, brain function and activity increases, along with greater cerebral energy consumption, measured by glucose metabolic rate. As ‘3 Blocks!’ players become more proficient, their brains show a reduced consumption of glucose, indicating more efficient brain activity for this task. Even moderate playing of ‘3 Blocks!’ (half=an-hour a day for three months) boosts general cognitive functions such as “critical thinking, reasoning, language and processing” and increases cerebral cortex thickness.

Screenshots

Tricky Gems4 screens
3 Blocks!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: 3 Blocks! at 5.0 against Tricky Gems's 4.2. 3 Blocks! also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (100% vs 75%). Tricky Gems's advantage is ratings volume (48 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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. Tricky Gems sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. 3 Blocks! asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

3 Blocks! holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tricky Gems has 48 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Tricky Gems's written reviews are positive against 100% of 3 Blocks!'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tricky Gems ships an update every 4 months, 3 Blocks! every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Tricky Gems versus 3 Blocks!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTricky Gems3 Blocks!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (48 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings48 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB85 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMiroslav OtsedarskiGameZen, Inc.

Customer experience

Tricky Gems

All ratings48 ratings
Positive68.8%
Neutral25.0%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

3 Blocks!

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Tricky Gems

One-time1
  • Pro Levels and Remove Ads$1.99
None

3 Blocks!

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tricky Gems free?
Tricky Gems is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is 3 Blocks! free?
3 Blocks! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Tricky Gems or 3 Blocks!?
3 Blocks! is rated higher. Tricky Gems averages 4.2 out of 5 from 48 ratings, while 3 Blocks! averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Tricky Gems or 3 Blocks! have ads?
Both Tricky Gems and 3 Blocks! show ads.
Which is updated more often, Tricky Gems or 3 Blocks!?
Tricky Gems ships an update every 4 months, and 3 Blocks! every 3 months. Most recently, Tricky Gems was updated on October 8, 2026 and 3 Blocks! on October 20, 2026.

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