Bonza Word Puzzle vs Retrogram
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bonza Word Puzzle
This app offers a unique crossword experience by blending word search, jigsaw puzzles, and trivia. Solve daily puzzles created by the community or design your own to challenge friends. It's a fresh take on word challenges for puzzle enthusiasts.
- Daily community-created puzzles
- Custom puzzle creator
- Challenge friends with custom puzzles
- Mixes word search, jigsaw, and trivia
- Interactive word challenges
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** App Store Best of 2014 ** "Bonza puzzles are instantly addictive!" - Will Shortz (Crossword Editor, The New York Times) "It’s an idea so simple I can’t believe it hasn’t been done yet." - Mark Serrels, Kotaku Bonza is a new type of crossword that has become an instant classic. It mixes word search, jigsaw and trivia to create something completely fresh. If you like a word challenge and you enjoy pushing boxes around with your fingers, then you'll love Bonza Word Puzzle. DAILY PUZZLES Every day you'll be able to solve a new puzzle designed by the Bonza community. BONZA PUZZLE CREATOR Create your own custom Bonza puzzles and challenge friends.
Retrogram
Challenge your vocabulary with a daily word puzzle. Create as many words as possible from seven letters. Enjoy a stylish, retro-themed experience designed to sharpen your mind and introduce you to new words.
- Daily hand-made puzzles
- Solve puzzles together via SharePlay
- Apple Watch compatibility
- No ads
- Discover new words
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Think you’re a word nerd? Put your vocabulary to the test with new word puzzles every day Retrogram is a love letter to the 1970s — a cozy collection of handcrafted word games, curious words and satisfying puzzles to make part of your daily routine PLAY EVERY DAY SPELLOTRON Make as many words as you can using seven letters. Find the pangram, climb the ranks and discover interesting stories behind some of your favorite words WORDWAY Build a bridge of words from one word to another. Use the letters you’re given and find a path across the board THERE’S MORE Subscribe to Retrogram to catch up on the past week of daily puzzles, explore the Puzzle Vault, play limited-edition bonus packs, switch things up with vintage app icons, and play after dark with Neon Nites FEATURES * Two handcrafted word puzzles every day * Play today’s Spellotron and Wordway puzzles for free * Catch up on the past seven days * A growing Vault of bonus puzzles * Limited-edition puzzle packs * Neon Nites dark theme * Vintage alternate app icons * SharePlay — solve together over FaceTime * Play Spellotron on your Apple Watch * No ads, ever Additional details Privacy policy: https://retrogram.app/#privacy Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Retrogram at none against Bonza Word Puzzle's shown. Retrogram also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). Bonza Word Puzzle's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (9.6K vs 320). 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
Both are free to download. Bonza Word Puzzle sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Retrogram sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Bonza Word Puzzle holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bonza Word Puzzle has 9.6K ratings behind it against 320, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Bonza Word Puzzle's written reviews are positive against 66% of Retrogram's.
Bonza Word Puzzle ships an update every 4 months, Retrogram every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 27, 2026.
| Parameter | Bonza Word Puzzle | Retrogram |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (9.6K ratings) — better | 4.4 (320 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.3% of reviews — better | 66.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 9.6K — better | 320 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 97 MB | 145 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Minimega | in Color |
Customer experience
Bonza Word Puzzle
Retrogram
User reviews
Bonza Word Puzzle
From 9.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🤩 Addictive and challenging
- 🧠 Excellent brain exercise
- 👍 Fun and entertaining
- 🎨 Unique and creative puzzle design
- 📚 Educational and informative
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
- 🤖 Repetitive user-generated puzzles
- 🙄 Excessive ads and monetization
- 🐛 Bugs, crashes, and performance issues
- 🌐 Too American-centric
Retrogram
From 320 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Retro aesthetic and clean interface design
- 👍 Simple and intuitive gameplay mechanics
- 🧠 Challenging and brain-stimulating puzzles
- 📚 Interesting word definitions and fun comments
- 🎮 Daily puzzle provides consistent engagement
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription pricing ($30-$80)
- 🚫 Misleading free-to-play model with paywall
- 📖 Inconsistent and limited word dictionary
- 🔄 Words accepted one day but rejected another
- ⏰ Only one puzzle per day (limited content)
Bugs and requests
Bonza Word Puzzle
Reported bugs
4 issues- Ads freezing the app
- Disappearing coins and progress
- Landscape mode issues
- Inability to turn off background music
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to rate user-generated puzzles
- More free daily puzzles
- Difficulty levels for puzzles
- Offline mode or ability to save progress
- Improved hint system
Retrogram
Reported bugs
7 issues- Words marked as missed that were actually found
- Puzzle letters changing when spinning the wheel
- Apple Watch app no longer functioning
- Game progress deletion without explanation
- Inconsistent word acceptance across different puzzles
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Hint feature disappeared in recent updates
- Contact support only available through Apple Mail
Requested features
10 requests- Access to previous/archived puzzles
- Multiple puzzles per day or puzzle difficulty levels
- Statistics tracking (completion rate, pangram frequency)
- Hint system that doesn't impact streak
- Word find rate percentages for context
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Immediate answer reveal after puzzle completion
- Cheaper one-time purchase option instead of subscription
- In-game dispute method for word validation
- Apple Watch functionality restoration
- Automatic daily prefix posting on social media
In-app purchases
Bonza Word Puzzle
- Mini Stack$0.99
- Puzzle Pack 3$0.99
- Basic Stack$1.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Celebrity Designer Bundle 1$2.99
- Classic Bundle 1$2.99
- Classic Bundle 2$2.99
- Classic Bundle 3$2.99
- Value Stack$4.99
- Coin Doubler$5.99
- Mega Stack$9.99
Retrogram
- Daily Puzzle (Monthly)$4.991 Month
- Daily Puzzle (Yearly)$29.991 Year
- Where in the World$3.99
- 80s Dinner Party$4.99
- Gaming Icons$4.99
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Stone Cold$4.99
- Flower Power$4.99
- Dear Reader$4.99
- Outer Rim$4.99
- Daily Puzzle (For Life)$49.99
