Simon Tatham's Puzzles vs Knotwords
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
Explore a diverse collection of 38 engaging single-player puzzle games designed for mobile devices. Enjoy a wide variety of challenges, from logic and spatial reasoning to pattern recognition and strategy.
- 38 single-player puzzle games
- Variety of puzzle types
- Logic and strategy challenges
- Spatial reasoning puzzles
- Pattern recognition games
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This is a collection of 38 single-player puzzle games for the iPhone and iPad. Included games are: Black Box - Bridges - Cube - Dominosa - Fifteen - Flip - Flood - Filling - Galaxies - Guess - Inertia - Keen - Light Up - Loopy - Magnets - Map - Mines - Net - Netslide - Pattern - Pearl - Pegs - Range - Rectangles - Same Game - Signpost - Singles - Sixteen - Slant - Solo - Tents - Towers - Tracks - Twiddle - Undead - Unequal - Unruly - Untangle
Knotwords
A daily word puzzle game that challenges you to arrange letters into valid words across and down. Its minimal design and intuitive progression make it an engaging and accessible brain teaser.
- Minimalist and elegant design
- Logic-based word puzzles
- Daily challenges
- Intuitive progression system
- Valid word arrangement
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Knotwords is a minimal and elegant logic puzzle — with words. The rules are simple: arrange the letters in each section so every word is valid, across and down. Each puzzle may seem difficult at first — but like all my favorite newspaper puzzles, it gets easier as you progress. Each step guides you naturally towards the solution. This is the kind of game I've been trying to make my whole career — I'm amazed Jack and I discovered this design. We hope you like it. -- Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Simon Tatham's Puzzles at none against Knotwords's 2. Simon Tatham's Puzzles also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 73%) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 13.6). Knotwords's advantage is ratings volume (8.2K vs 248). 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
Both are free to download. Knotwords sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. Simon Tatham's Puzzles asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Simon Tatham's Puzzles against 4.8 for Knotwords. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Knotwords has 8.2K ratings behind it against 248, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Simon Tatham's Puzzles's written reviews are positive against 73% of Knotwords's.
Simon Tatham's Puzzles ships an update every 2 weeks, Knotwords every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Simon Tatham's Puzzles | Knotwords |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (248 ratings) — better | 4.8 (8.2K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 94.6% of reviews — better | 73.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 248 | 8.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 13.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 507 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Greg Hewgill | Zach Gage |
Customer experience
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
Knotwords
User reviews
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
From 248 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great variety of puzzles
- 👍 No ads or in-app purchases
- 👍 Simple, intuitive interface
- 👍 Customizable difficulty levels
- 👍 Offline playability
Room to improve
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with iOS 14
- 👎 Lack of zoom/scaling options
- 👎 Reliance on long-press controls can be awkward
- 👎 Some puzzles not as intuitive on mobile
Knotwords
From 8.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Great game
- 👍 Fun and challenging
- 🚀 Simple but engaging
- 👍 Unique concept
- 👍 Addictive
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Buggy cursor/input issues
- 🐛 Slow performance
- 🐛 Questionable word choices
- 🔋 Battery drain
Bugs and requests
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on startup with iOS 14
- Filling/marking not working properly in some puzzles
Requested features
3 requests- Zoom/scaling options for larger puzzles
- Alternative control schemes (e.g. tap-to-flag)
- Inclusion of all puzzles from desktop version
Knotwords
Reported bugs
4 issues- Puzzles with missing/incorrect squares
- Incorrect words being accepted
- Puzzles not properly credited as completed
- Hints not matching the correct answers
Requested features
9 requests- Ability to turn off haptic feedback
- Improved cursor/input behavior
- Cloud sync across devices
- Difficulty settings
- Ability to see definitions of completed words
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Restart button for puzzles
- Customizable themes
- Daily leaderboards
- Ability to disable hints once used
In-app purchases
Simon Tatham's Puzzles
No in-app purchases
Knotwords
- Knotwords Pro subscription7 Days trial$4.991 Year
- Full Game$11.99
Questions
Is Simon Tatham's Puzzles free?
Is Knotwords free?
Which has better reviews, Simon Tatham's Puzzles or Knotwords?
Do Simon Tatham's Puzzles or Knotwords have ads?
Which is updated more often, Simon Tatham's Puzzles or Knotwords?
Other comparisons
