Comparison

Codewords + vs Astraware Acrostic

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

Head to head
About

Codewords +

Solve crosswords where letters are replaced by numbers. Decipher the code to reveal the hidden words. Offers five difficulty levels, making it suitable for beginners and experienced players alike. Enjoy a clean, digital experience with unlimited attempts and progress tracking.

Highlights
  • Number-coded crosswords
  • Five difficulty levels
  • 1400 puzzles available
  • Progress tracking
  • Mental exercise
Features
Read full description

Crossword puzzles with a twist! All the letters in a crossword have been replaced by numbers. Can you figure out which letter each number represents? Five different levels make this app is the perfect way to learn if you have never played before. Our codewords app is even better than playing it on paper. You won't waste any time searching around for a number, and you can change your answer as many times as you want without turning your puzzle into a mess. We made this app free so that you can test it without having to buy anything. It comes with ten free puzzles--two puzzles in each of the five levels. There are 1400 puzzles available for download, but the ten free puzzles might just keep you busy for a long time :) Features: - Easy to learn! - 5 levels of difficulty - 1400 puzzles (10 are free) - See your progress instantly in the puzzle book - A fun mental exercise to keep your brain sharp!

About

Astraware Acrostic

Solve word clues to uncover a vertical target word. Enjoy quick puzzles perfect for short breaks, with daily and weekly challenges. Features include helpful hints and global leaderboards.

Highlights
  • Solve word clues to find a vertical target word
  • 50 built-in free puzzles
  • Daily and weekly new puzzles
  • Global leaderboard competition
  • Vowel/consonant highlighting
  • Helpful hints available
Features
Read full description

Astraware Acrostic is a quick-style word puzzle game - solve the clues to reveal the words and find the vertical target word that connects through them all! Perfect if you love Crosswords but like something a bit quicker that you can fit into a shorter break and still finish a puzzle! There are 50 built-in free puzzles with a range of difficulties and sizes, so you can play offline at any time. You get free unlimited access to play two new Daily Acrostic puzzles each day, and compete on the global leaderboard! There's a free Weekender puzzle available each week with a larger puzzle and trickier clues. The unique twist are some novel features to boost your progress - highlighting in puzzle shows you where vowels and consonants appear, and each time you get one of the horizontal words, the target letter is revealed throughout the puzzle! Still need a bit of a hint? (Everyone does, from time to time!) - ask for a hint for a small time cost and our bookend-hints give you the first and last letters of the word which we've found are a huge help! Astraware Acrostic Top Features: - Free unlimited access to our Daily and Weekender puzzles, each with their own online high score table - submit your times and see how you compare! - 50 free puzzles in a range of sizes for hours of play - Play any of the puzzles from the past week and catch up whenever you like! - Unlimited helpful hints - Clues and answers are written for an international English-speaking audience whether you are American, British, Canadian, Australian or maybe learning English as a student. Astraware Acrostics are hand-crafted quick-style puzzles with a broad range of clues using general knowledge that are popular on the puzzle pages of many major newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, National Post and the New York Times (NYT) crosswords! Clues might also include synonyms and anagrams, and the occasional slightly cryptic puzzle too! If you love this game, you will be pleased to know that we have other apps available in this range: Astraware CodeWords, Kriss Kross, Word Search, and of course Astraware Crosswords for the dedicated enthusiast! Puzzles Plus Subscription Terms and Details Puzzles Plus is our optional subscription for Acrostic which entitles you to play all of the available Daily, Weekender and Stream puzzles as soon as they are available, without in-game adverts. Subscribers can also choose to highlight their high scores with a choice of badges. Subscriptions are available with renewal periods of either monthly, quarterly, or yearly. The price shown is the cost of the renewal, with the saving 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 (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 trial will be lost. These terms are available at : https://www.astraware.com/about/puzzlesplus/ For more information on Data and Privacy, see our Privacy page at http://www.astraware.com/privacy

Screenshots

Codewords +4 screens
Astraware Acrostic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Codewords + at none against Astraware Acrostic's shown. Codewords + also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (89% vs 76%). Astraware Acrostic's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 39 months). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Codewords + sells 16 one-off in-app purchases and Astraware Acrostic sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Codewords + holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Codewords + has 352 ratings behind it against 53, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Codewords +'s written reviews are positive against 76% of Astraware Acrostic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Codewords + ships an update every 39 months, Astraware Acrostic every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Codewords + versus Astraware Acrostic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCodewords +Astraware Acrostic
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (352 ratings) — better4.5 (53 ratings)
Positive reviews88.5% of reviews — better76.2% of reviews
Number of ratings352 — better53
Update frequencyEvery 39 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSarah PierceAstraware Limited

Customer experience

Codewords +

All ratings352 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews122 reviews
Positive88.5%
Neutral8.2%
Negative3.3%

Astraware Acrostic

All ratings53 ratings
Positive84.9%
Neutral5.7%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral4.8%
Negative19.0%

Bugs and requests

Codewords +

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Puzzle #29 looks different from actual puzzle
  • App is slowing down user's phone, needs update

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add a help/clue button
  • Option to choose UK English spelling
  • Add a timer for more challenge
  • Allow users to insert letters manually
  • Add more puzzles/levels

Astraware Acrostic

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

16 purchases

Codewords +

One-time16
  • Gentle Pack #1$0.99
  • Gentle Pack #2$0.99
  • Easy Pack #1$0.99
Show 13 more
  • Easy Pack #2$0.99
  • Medium Pack #1$0.99
  • Medium Pack #2$0.99
  • Hard Pack #1$0.99
  • Hard Pack #2$0.99
  • Expert Pack #1$0.99
  • Gentle Pack #4$0.99
  • Gentle Pack #3$0.99
  • Medium Pack #4$0.99
  • Medium Pack #3$0.99
  • Hard Pack #4$0.99
  • Hard Pack #3$0.99
  • Megapack$6.99
8 purchases

Astraware Acrostic

Subscriptions3
  • Puzzles Plus7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Puzzles Plus7 Days trial$2.993 Months
  • Puzzles Plus7 Days trial$7.991 Year
One-time5
  • Easy Pack$0.99
  • Tough Pack$0.99
  • Ad-Free Daily Puzzles$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Deluxe Pack$2.99
  • Calendar Pack 2017$4.99

Questions

Is Codewords + free?
Codewords + is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Astraware Acrostic free?
Astraware Acrostic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Codewords + or Astraware Acrostic?
Codewords + is rated higher. Codewords + averages 4.8 out of 5 from 352 ratings, while Astraware Acrostic averages 4.5 from 53 ratings.
Do Codewords + or Astraware Acrostic have ads?
Astraware Acrostic shows ads; Codewords + does not.
Which is updated more often, Codewords + or Astraware Acrostic?
Codewords + ships an update every 39 months, and Astraware Acrostic every 6 weeks. Most recently, Codewords + was updated on October 10, 2026 and Astraware Acrostic on October 6, 2026.

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