Comparison

Astraware CodeWords vs Merge Plus

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

Head to head
About

Astraware CodeWords

This word puzzle game challenges you to crack a secret code by substituting numbers for letters in a crossword-style grid. Use logic and vocabulary to decipher words and climb the global leaderboard.

Highlights
  • Number-to-letter substitution puzzles
  • Daily and Weekender puzzles
  • 50 built-in puzzles
  • Extra puzzle streams
  • Intuitive interface
  • Highlighting for letter consistency
  • Manual and auto-fill options
Features
Read full description

Can you crack the code? Astraware CodeWords is an addictive word puzzle game with a difference! You start with a crosswords style grid but instead of words, each letter has been substituted with a number from 1 to 26. It is up to you to figure out which number stands for each letter! There are no clues but 3 letters are already in place to help you get started and each letter of the alphabet is used at least once. You start by guessing possible words and matching numbers with letters, until you've fully cracked the code - and your vocabulary and logical reasoning will be stretched along the way! Did you know that the letter 'e' is the most commonly used letter in English? Did you know that 'th' is the most common pair of letters to be seen together? You'll use this knowledge and more as you make your guesses and work out the words! Astraware CodeWords gives you access to play our free Daily puzzles - top the global leaderboard by completing the puzzle in the fastest time! For an extra challenge there is a Weekender puzzle available each Friday with a trickier grid and more unusual words. Great features include: - Unlimited access to our two Daily puzzles and Weekender puzzle. - A collection of 50 built-in puzzles in various sizes and difficulties, perfect for beginners and avid players - Extra puzzle streams for endless play - Intuitive interface - Highlighting to show where you've chosen the same letter for different numbers - Option to fill in letters manually, or choose auto to fill in all occurrences of that letter at once - Save slots available to have several puzzles on the go at once, so you can stop for a break and come back to a puzzle later - Option to purchase extra value puzzle packs for offline play - Puzzles Plus subscription for unlimited puzzles Puzzles Plus Subscription Terms and Details Puzzles Plus is our optional subscription for CodeWords which entitles you to play all of the available Daily, Weekender and Stream puzzles as soon as they are available, without in-game adverts or any requirement to earn tokens. Subscribers can also choose to highlight their high scores with a choice of badges. Subscriptions are available with renewal periods of either monthly, quarterly (every 3 months), or yearly. The price shown is the cost of the renewal, with the saving value for longer subscription periods as a comparison to the monthly option. After you confirm a subscription, you will have a free trial period of seven days. Your iTunes Account will be charged as soon as the free trial is over. If you cancel the subscription at any time before the free trial is over, you will not be billed. The subscriptions are automatically renewing, and you will be charged again at the end of your current subscription period. Your subscription will automatically renew unless you turn this off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. The renewal cost will be the same for each subscription period, and will be charged within the 24 hours before the end of your current subscription. You can manage the subscriptions at any time by going to the Account Settings in the Settings App after purchase. There are options to either change to a different renewal period (which will be at a different price) or to cancel your subscription completely. If you cancel the renewal you will still have access to the Puzzles Plus features until the full subscription period is complete. If you confirm the purchase of a subscription before the free trial is complete, any unused portion of the free trial will be lost. These terms are listed at the Astraware site at : https://www.astraware.com/about/puzzlesplus/ For more information on Data and Privacy, please view the Astraware Privacy page at http://www.astraware.com/privacy

About

Merge Plus

A number-merging puzzle game where players combine cards to create larger numbers. Achieve triple-clears to merge cards and earn new hand cards. The game ends when you run out of hand cards.

Highlights
  • Drag and merge cards
  • Combine numbers to get bigger sums
  • Triple-clear adjacent same numbers
  • Merge cards to increase number value
  • Earn new hand cards
  • Manage up to 5 hand cards
Features
Read full description

It's a simple and interesting number game. The goal of the game is to get bigger numbers. How to play: You have 5 hand cards in the beginning, Drag the first card in the Hand Card Area to any card in the Chessboard Area. when the hand card meets the card on the chessboard, numbers on the chessboard card will change to the sum of numbers on both cards. Three or more adjacent cards of the same number will trigger a triple-clear, and then merged to a new card with its number plus one. Upon each triple-clear, you will get a new hand card. You can hold up to 5 hand cards. When the quantity of your hand cards drop to 0, the game is over. Subscription options We have the following subscription periods in our game: 1. Weekly Merge Plus VIP Membership offers weekly subscription for $4.99 after 3-day free trial which provides 50 Gems and Removes ADS. 2. Monthly Merge Plus VIP Membership offers monthly subscription for $9.99 which provides 50 Gems and Removes ADS. End of trial and subscription renewal This price is established for United States customers. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on the country of residence. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Canceling trial or subscription You can turn off the auto-renew for the subscription whenever you want to through iTunes. Check https://support.apple.com/HT202039 . When your current trial/subscription period expires, you will be unsubscribed. The current active subscription period can not be canceled. When your subscription expires, you will no longer be able to use elements included in Subscription option. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us at wakeapp@126.com S Privacy Policy: https://wakeappgames.com/privacy Terms of Service: https://wakeappgames.com/privacy

Screenshots

Astraware CodeWords4 screens
Merge Plus4 screens

Verdict

The call

Astraware CodeWords and Merge Plus both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 87% of Astraware CodeWords's written reviews are positive against 35% of Merge Plus's. Merge Plus's advantage is ratings volume (10K vs 162). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Astraware CodeWords sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Merge Plus sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Astraware CodeWords against 4.6 for Merge Plus. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Merge Plus has 10K ratings behind it against 162, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Astraware CodeWords's written reviews are positive against 35% of Merge Plus's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Astraware CodeWords ships an update every 6 weeks, Merge Plus monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Astraware CodeWords versus Merge Plus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAstraware CodeWordsMerge Plus
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (162 ratings) — better4.6 (10K ratings)
Positive reviews87.4% of reviews — better34.5% of reviews
Number of ratings16210K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksMonthly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAstraware LimitedKIDBEAR

Customer experience

Astraware CodeWords

All ratings162 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral1.9%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews167 reviews
Positive87.4%
Neutral4.2%
Negative8.4%

Merge Plus

All ratings10,266 ratings
Positive89.7%
Neutral6.5%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews139 reviews
Positive34.5%
Neutral23.0%
Negative42.4%

User reviews

Astraware CodeWords

From 162 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Enjoyable and mentally stimulating
  • 🚀 Well-designed online puzzle
  • 👍 Challenging but always enjoyable
  • 👍 Great way to stimulate the brain
  • 👍 Excellent puzzles, fun and addictive

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inappropriate words in puzzles
  • 🔋 Increased ads and longer durations
  • 👎 Mandatory commercials ruin the experience
  • 👎 Repetitive long words make it too easy
  • 👎 Glitches and issues with latest update

Merge Plus

From 10K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Fun and addictive gameplay
  • 💡 Challenging and makes you think
  • 🧠 Helps improve math skills

Room to improve

  • 🤬 Excessive and intrusive ads
  • 🔁 Repetitive ad prompts even after purchase
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing issues
  • 🤔 Unclear game mechanics and challenges

Bugs and requests

Astraware CodeWords

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Hints not adding correctly to time
  • Game no longer loads after recent update
  • Purchased puzzles and packs not available

Requested features

4 requests
  • More free puzzles made available daily
  • Flashing empty space indicator for last letter
  • Theme-based puzzles and more daily challenges
  • Ability to opt-out of competitive leaderboard

Merge Plus

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Login/purchase restoration not working
  • Ads not removed after paid upgrade
  • Game freezing on certain devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to save progress across devices
  • More transparent in-app purchase options

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Astraware CodeWords

Subscriptions3
  • Puzzles Plus7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Puzzles Plus7 Days trial$2.993 Months
  • Puzzles Plus7 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time10
  • Fun-size Pack$0.99
  • Family Pack$1.99
  • Tough Pack$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Easy Pack$1.99
  • Tough Pack 2$1.99
  • Vacation Pack$3.99
  • Ad-Free Daily Puzzles$4.99
  • Deluxe Pack$4.99
  • Deluxe Pack 2$4.99
  • Calendar Pack 2017$4.99
7 purchases

Merge Plus

Subscriptions2
  • VIP Membership one Week$4.997 Days
  • VIP Membership one Month$9.991 Month
One-time5
  • gembox$2.99
  • remove ads$3.99
  • 80 gems$3.99
Show 2 more
  • 200 gems$5.99
  • 400 gems$9.99

Questions

Is Astraware CodeWords free?
Astraware CodeWords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Merge Plus free?
Merge Plus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Astraware CodeWords or Merge Plus?
Astraware CodeWords is rated higher. Astraware CodeWords averages 4.7 out of 5 from 162 ratings, while Merge Plus averages 4.6 from 10K ratings.
Do Astraware CodeWords or Merge Plus have ads?
Both Astraware CodeWords and Merge Plus show ads.
Which is updated more often, Astraware CodeWords or Merge Plus?
Astraware CodeWords ships an update every 6 weeks, and Merge Plus monthly. Most recently, Astraware CodeWords was updated on September 29, 2026 and Merge Plus on September 28, 2026.

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