Comparison

Minesweeper vs Groops

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

Head to head
About

Minesweeper

Experience the classic Minesweeper puzzle with adjustable difficulty levels and custom board configurations. Strategically clear minefields by revealing safe squares and marking suspected mines. Track your progress with high scores and compete globally.

Highlights
  • Four difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, Hard, Custom)
  • Customizable board size and mine count
  • Intuitive tap and long-press controls
  • First tap is always safe
  • Timer and mine counter
  • High scores and statistics
  • Game Center support with global leaderboards
Features
Read full description

Enjoy the classic Minesweeper! Choose from 4 difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, or a Custom mode where you can set the board size and number of mines. The goal is simple: clear the field without detonating any mines. Tap a tile to reveal it. If it contains a mine, the game is over. Numbers are your clues: they show how many mines are in the adjacent tiles (including diagonals). Use flags to mark suspected mines and question marks if you're unsure. Test your logic and clear the board to win! BOARD SIZES • Easy: 8x10 field with 12 mines • Medium: 16x16 field with 40 mines • Hard: 30x16 field with 99 mines • Custom: 8x10 to 30x30 field with 8 to 720 mines MAIN FEATURES • Select from four levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard, and Custom • Fully configurable: choose the board size and the number of mines • Easy to use: drag to scroll and pinch to zoom the minefield • Single tap to clear a spot and long tap to mark a flag • The first tap will never reveal a mine • Timer and mine counter • High scores and statistics • Game Center Support. Global leaderboards showing fastest games and most wins • Universal App, full native support for iPhone and iPad

About

Groops

This puzzle game challenges your mind by matching tiles based on shared or unique attributes. With hundreds of levels and exciting game modes like Time Attack and multiplayer, it offers endless fun and brain stimulation. Compete with friends and unlock achievements.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of levels
  • Time Attack mode
  • Leaderboards
  • Multiplayer mode
  • Unlockable achievements
  • Hint system
Features
Read full description

Groops is a puzzle game that will put your mind to the test. Match tiles three at a time based on either shared or completely unique attributes - the number of possibilities will tie your brain in knots! Keep your mind sharp. Play Groops! • Hundreds of levels of increasing difficulties! • Infinite, unlimited gameplay in “Time Attack” mode. Get to the top of the leaderboards and send your friends Challenge requests to beat your score! • Unlock dozens of Achievements! • Compete against friends in multiplayer mode - who can get the most Groops before time runs out? ********** ~ * Starbucks Pick of the Week in 2014 * ~ “This is an example of why we love games. Simple to understand, but very difficult to master.” - iPlayApps “Groops takes match-three to a whole new level.” - Daniel Celeste, AppAdvice.com “This game is more fun and challenging than my job! With a smooth design and intelligent matching, it is everything I look for to keep my mind stimulated during downtime” - HallelP “Fun but challenging game. Can’t put my phone down once I open this app!” - Stefi592 ********** GAMEPLAY MODES LEVELS - Relax, there’s no time pressure. Find all the possible Groops on the screen to advance. You can use Hints if you get stuck (get more by playing TIME ATTACK or from the Powerups menu). TIME ATTACK - Find as many Groops as possible before time runs out! Make 5 Groops in a row to increase your multiplier, but be careful! If you make an invalid Groop, your multiplier gets reset. Rack up as many points as possible because your score gets added to your points bank. ********** OK, HOW DO I PLAY? Match 3 tiles to make a Groop. Tiles have 4 attributes with three options each - SHAPE (square, circle, leaf), COLOR (blue, magenta, yellow), PATTERN (solid fill, striped fill, border only), and SYMBOL (diamond, hourglass, and its 3rd option is no symbol at all). Finding identical tiles is easy, but you’ll eventually need to make Groops based on mixed attributes, and thats where we kick your brain into full-throttle. Groops can be made by matching tiles with identical attributes, by matching all 3 options of 1 attribute, or by matching three different options across multiple attributes. For example: • Solid blue square with no symbol, solid blue circle with no symbol, and a solid blue leaf with no symbol. (Same shape - square, same color - blue, same pattern - solid, all different symbols) • Striped blue square with no symbol, solid magenta circle with a diamond, bordered yellow leaf with an hourglass (All different shapes, all different colors, all different patterns, all different symbols) NOTE: To make a Groop, either all options are the same, or all different across the attributes. For example, these would be invalid: • Solid blue square with no symbol, solid blue square with no symbol, solid blue circle with no symbol (two squares and a circle, instead of three squares, or one square, one circle, and one leaf) • Bordered magenta circle with a diamond, solid yellow circle with a diamond, solid yellow circle with an hourglass (Invalid for two reasons: 1) two yellows and a magenta instead of three yellows or one yellow, one magenta, and one blue. 2) two diamonds and an hourglass instead of three diamonds or one diamond, one hourglass, and one without any symbol at all) ********** Follow @play_groops on Twitter

Screenshots

Minesweeper4 screens
Groops4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Groops at Free against Minesweeper's $0.99. Groops also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 53%) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 4 months). Minesweeper's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). On 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

Groops is free to download; Minesweeper costs $0.99 up front. Groops sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Minesweeper asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Minesweeper holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Groops has 675 ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 53% of Minesweeper's written reviews are positive against 86% of Groops's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Minesweeper ships an update every 4 months, Groops every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and July 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Minesweeper versus Groops: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMinesweeperGroops
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (34 ratings) — better4.3 (675 ratings)
Positive reviews53.3% of reviews85.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings34675 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSergio LiceaTorched Media LLC

Customer experience

Minesweeper

All ratings34 ratings
Positive88.2%
Neutral5.9%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive53.3%
Neutral13.3%
Negative33.3%

Groops

All ratings675 ratings
Positive81.3%
Neutral9.5%
Negative9.2%
Written reviews97 reviews
Positive85.6%
Neutral5.2%
Negative9.3%

Bugs and requests

Minesweeper

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Groops

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Level 10 of 'brainz needed' bonus pack won't let user progress
  • Crash after time attack finishes
  • Level 45 of easy 4x4 board shows '0/ ' and crashes
  • Win not recognized in local multiplayer

Requested features

4 requests
  • More levels and boards
  • Ability to reset level scores
  • Endless mode
  • Ability to see previous groops found

In-app purchases

None

Minesweeper

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Groops

One-time6
  • pack of 50 Board Shuffles$0.99
  • pack of 10 Hints$0.99
  • pack of 5,000 Points$0.99
Show 3 more
  • 3x3 Bonus Pack 1$1.99
  • pack of 20,000 Points$2.99
  • pack of 100,000 Points$12.99

Questions

Is Minesweeper free?
Minesweeper costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Groops free?
Groops is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Minesweeper or Groops?
Minesweeper is rated higher. Minesweeper averages 4.5 out of 5 from 34 ratings, while Groops averages 4.3 from 675 ratings.
Do Minesweeper or Groops have ads?
Neither Minesweeper nor Groops shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Minesweeper or Groops?
Minesweeper ships an update every 4 months, and Groops every 8 days. Most recently, Minesweeper was updated on September 24, 2026 and Groops on July 4, 2026.

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