Comparison

Word Horizons vs Hunchboard

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

Head to head
About

Word Horizons

Engage in a word-scrambling crossword experience that rewards players with experience points and gems. Unlock beautiful landscapes and exclusive landmarks as you progress through various scenes. Earn more gems to discover special sights and enjoy a continuously evolving word puzzle adventure.

Highlights
  • Word scrambling crossword puzzles
  • Earn ExP and Gems
  • Level up landscapes
  • Unlock exclusive landmarks
  • Discover special sights
  • Daily puzzle challenges
Features
Read full description

Word Horizons is a fun, satisfying, and beautiful word-scrambling crossword. Each puzzle you beat earns ExP and Gems towards levelling up your horizon into a beautiful landscape. Travel across various Scenes, levelling them up to unlock special and exclusive Landmarks, like an Oasis in the Desert scene, or a Ferris Wheel along the Wharf. The better you play the game, the more Gems you can earn to spend on even more sights to see, like the Aurora Borealis or a firework display! Catch the early morning fog, or unlock birds that return home to roost at sunset. The more you play, the more you're rewarded. With Word Horizons, you'll never run out of puzzles to play and things to discover!

About

Hunchboard

This app helps you solve word puzzles by visualizing overlapping guesses. It allows you to explore multiple potential groupings for tiles and collaborate with friends. Built-in lookup tools provide quick definitions and summaries without leaving the app.

Highlights
  • Visualize overlapping tile guesses
  • Switch between Row and Group views
  • Integrated Wiktionary, Wikipedia, and web search
  • Collaborate with friends via invite codes
  • Import puzzles from screenshots with OCR
  • Auto-arrange hypotheses
  • Color-code rows to commit guesses
Read full description

Hunchboard is a thinking tool for Connections–style word puzzles. It makes the invisible visible: when a tile feels like it could belong to two different groups, Hunchboard lets you see and explore those overlapping guesses instead of committing to just one. THE PROBLEM In a 4x4 puzzle grid, each tile sits in one spot. But your brain doesn't work that way — you know "BALL" could be a dance OR a round object. The standard grid can't show that. You're stuck holding it all in your head. HOW HUNCHBOARD HELPS - Drag tiles together to start guessing a group - A tile can belong to multiple groups at once - Switch between Row View (a 4-row layout that mirrors a solved Connections grid) and Group View (a free-form canvas with overlapping colored shapes) - Group View makes your overlapping guesses visible and sortable LOOK IT UP WITHOUT LEAVING THE APP - Drag a tile onto Wiktionary for a quick definition - Drag onto Wikipedia for a one-paragraph article summary (great for proper nouns) - Drag onto Web search if you need a general result - Lookups are lazy — only the word you drag, only when you drag it COLLABORATE WITH FRIENDS - Create a group session with a 6-character invite code — no accounts - Each person works at their own pace and shares when ready - See how your guesses compare and converge - Sessions auto-delete after 14 days WORKS WITH ANY PUZZLE - Import a screenshot of any Connections-style grid and let on-device OCR read the tiles - Or type tiles in manually - All OCR happens on your device — your screenshot is never uploaded BUILT FOR THINKING - Auto-arrange your guesses into rows with one tap (Untangle) - Color a row to commit to a guess - A daily "Today's daily puzzle" shortcut from the home screen - A friendly first-time experience that unlocks the full app as you practice the basics - Optimized for iPhone and iPad FREE TO TRY - 20 starting puzzle credits to fully explore the app - After that, Puzzle Packs at $0.99 USD per pack — no subscription, no ads - Each pack grants additional credits (the exact count is shown before you confirm) Hunchboard doesn't connect to any puzzle service or API. Your puzzle data stays on your device. Group sessions are temporary and auto-delete after 14 days.

Screenshots

Word Horizons3 screens
Hunchboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Word Horizons at none against Hunchboard's 1. Word Horizons also leads on ratings volume (3.1K vs 3). Hunchboard's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Hunchboard sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Word Horizons asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hunchboard holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Word Horizons has 3.1K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 96% of Word Horizons's written reviews are positive against 100% of Hunchboard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Word Horizons versus Hunchboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWord HorizonsHunchboard
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (3.1K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews95.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.1K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size150 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStaple GamesMachine Learning for Business, LLC

Customer experience

Word Horizons

All ratings3,103 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral2.4%
Negative0.5%
Written reviews46 reviews
Positive95.7%
Neutral4.3%
Negative0.0%

Hunchboard

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Word Horizons

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • None reported

Requested features

2 requests
  • More levels or content
  • Additional gameplay modes

Hunchboard

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Word Horizons

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Hunchboard

One-time1
  • Puzzle Pack$0.99

Questions

Is Word Horizons free?
Word Horizons is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hunchboard free?
Hunchboard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Word Horizons or Hunchboard?
Hunchboard is rated higher. Word Horizons averages 4.8 out of 5 from 3.1K ratings, while Hunchboard averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Word Horizons or Hunchboard have ads?
Word Horizons shows ads; Hunchboard does not.
Which is updated more often, Word Horizons or Hunchboard?
Word Horizons ships an update every 2 weeks, and Hunchboard every 2 weeks. Most recently, Word Horizons was updated on October 27, 2026 and Hunchboard on October 28, 2026.

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