Zerko vs Stackdown
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Zerko
A relaxing puzzle game where you strategically place blocks to make all numbers on the board equal zero. Enjoy a no-pressure experience with calming audio and no in-app purchases or ads.
- Zero-sum number puzzles
- Strategic block placement
- Relaxing gameplay
- No time pressure
- No in-app purchases
- No ads
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Some call it reverse sudoku, while others call it a nullification game, but it's Zerko - a puzzle game filled with shapes, numbers, and a straightforward goal: make every number zero. To achieve this, you need to strategically place blocks of various shapes and values so that the numbers on the board effectively "remove up" to zero. Like all my games, this one too is about relaxation... Just chill. There are no points, no time pressure, no data collection, no in-app purchases, no ads, no nonsense ;) My only hope is that you'll enjoy it and that I'll be able to add new content and levels for you in the future. Relaxing audio by: Marek Koszczyński
Stackdown
Uncover six five-letter words hidden within a stack of tiles. Strategically select tiles, revealing new possibilities with each word found. Enjoy a daily puzzle, a vast archive, and practice modes, all playable offline.
- Uncover hidden five-letter words
- Strategic tile selection
- Daily puzzles and archive
- Offline play
- Spoiler-free sharing
- Practice modes
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Six five-letter words are buried in a stack of thirty tiles. Dig them out, one at a time, until the stack is gone. Only tiles with nothing resting on top of them can be picked. Take one and the tiles beneath may come free — so every word you find opens up the next. 【How It Works】 Tap free tiles to spell a word, in order. Find all six words to clear the stack. Stuck? Swipe the hint slider for a clue about the current word. Finish without hints and you earn all five stars. 【Only One Word Ever Fits】 This is the part that makes the puzzle work. At any moment there is exactly one word you can build from the free tiles — and only one set of tiles that builds it. Every stack in the game has been checked by an independent solver that walks every legal move, so you will never spell a real word and be told you are wrong. 【A Daily, Plus a Deep Archive】 A new stack arrives every day, with a streak to keep. Hundreds of past stacks stay playable in the archive, no account needed, and three hundred practice stacks wait in easy, medium and hard. Badges, best times, and a timer you can leave switched off round out the record. 【Share Your Front Page】 Every solve prints a result card — your time, your stars, your streak — ready to share with friends, with a spoiler-free option that hides the answers. Same stack, same six words: who digs out faster? 【Built to Be Pleasant】 Stackdown works fully offline, with no sign-in and no server. There are no forced ads in the middle of a puzzle, and a single purchase removes ads for good. Full iPad support, in light and dark. If you play the daily Stackdown web puzzle, this is that game on your phone: the whole back catalogue in your pocket, a proper share card, and somewhere to keep your streak. Stackdown is not affiliated with Waffle Studio or Puzzlist. 【Terms of Use (EULA)】 https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Zerko at 93% against Stackdown's 0%. Zerko also leads on ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#196 vs unranked). Stackdown's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 3 weeks). On in-app purchases 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
Stackdown is free to download; Zerko costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Zerko ships an update every 3 weeks, Stackdown every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Zerko | Stackdown |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (14 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 93.3% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #196 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 100 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Maciej Targoni | Ikuhei Kure |
Customer experience
Zerko
Stackdown
In-app purchases
Zerko
No in-app purchases
Stackdown
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Zerko free?
Is Stackdown free?
Do Zerko or Stackdown have ads?
Which is updated more often, Zerko or Stackdown?
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