Red Herring vs black (game)
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Red Herring
This word puzzle game challenges you to group words into categories while identifying misleading "Red Herring" words. Enjoy a fun, challenging, and easy-to-learn experience with no time limits and three difficulty levels suitable for all ages.
- Group words into categories
- Identify misleading "Red Herring" words
- No time limit
- Three difficulty levels
- Daily puzzle
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Red Herring is the word connections game. How to play: 1. Make the connections and group words into categories. 2. Look out for the Red Herrings, pesky words whose sole purpose is to mislead you. 3. Have fun making the connections! Red Herring is a FUN, CHALLENGING, and EASY TO LEARN word connections puzzle game. Each puzzle has only one correct solution and there's no time limit. Three difficulty levels make it suitable for the whole family. Don't say we didn't warn you if you can't stop playing. Give Red Herring a try today! From the creators of 7 Little Words and Moxie. ----- Red Herring contains 25 puzzles and a daily puzzle that you can play for free. Additional puzzles are available for purchase inside the app.
black (game)
Solve 50 unique puzzle levels by making the entire screen black. Each level presents a distinct logical challenge. Hints are available to guide you through the game.
- 50 unique puzzle levels
- Each level has its own logic
- Hint system available
- Ad-free hint option via in-app purchase
- Part of a color puzzle game series
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The sequel to my 'yellow' and 'red' games is here! Can you make the screen black in 50 levels? Each level has its own logic. Do you need help? Use the light bulb button that will appear after a while in the top right of each level to get a hint. There are multiple hints for each level. With the in-app purchase you will not get ads before the hints. This is the third game in my color puzzle series. There are already 7 color games each with 50 new levels. Enjoy! @BartBonte
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Red Herring at 48K against black (game)'s 548. black (game)'s advantage is review sentiment (95% vs 76%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.6). 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. Red Herring sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and black (game) sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Red Herring against 4.8 for black (game). That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Red Herring has 48K ratings behind it against 548, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Red Herring's written reviews are positive against 95% of black (game)'s.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Red Herring | black (game) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (48K ratings) | 4.8 (548 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 75.8% of reviews | 95.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 48K — better | 548 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Blue Ox Family Games, Inc. | Bart BONTE |
Customer experience
Red Herring
black (game)
User reviews
Red Herring
From 48K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🤔 Challenging and thought-provoking
- 🧠 Exercises the mind
- ⏰ Good time-passer
- 🎮 Fun and addictive game
- 🎓 Educational and expands vocabulary
Room to improve
- 🇺🇸 Too American-centric
- 💰 Expensive paid content
- 🚫 Limited free content
- 🐛 Bugs and crashes
- 🔍 Obscure references and categories
black (game)
From 548 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Fun and challenging puzzles
- 🎶 Great background music
- 💡 Unique game mechanics
- 🚀 Smooth and responsive gameplay
- 👍 Appropriate level of difficulty
Room to improve
- 🐛 Hints not always helpful
- 🐛 Some levels have inconsistent or unclear solutions
- 🔍 Difficulty spikes in certain levels
Bugs and requests
Red Herring
Reported bugs
3 issues- Formatting issues after updates
- Inability to access previous daily puzzles
- Ads that cannot be dismissed
Requested features
5 requests- More free daily puzzles
- Less American-focused content
- Dark mode option
- Ability to replay past puzzles
- Hints system improvements
black (game)
Reported bugs
2 issues- Level 46 glitching
- Inability to update consent settings
Requested features
3 requests- More color-themed games (e.g. orange, purple, white)
- Option to skip levels
- Ability to reset game progress
In-app purchases
Red Herring
- Curiosity - 50 Puzzles$1.99
- Brilliant! - 50 Puzzles$1.99
- Allegro - 50 Puzzles$1.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Spelunking - 50 Puzzles$1.99
- Renaissance - 50 Puzzles$1.99
- IQ - 50 Puzzles$1.99
- Serendipity - 50 Puzzles$1.99
- Unlimited Hints$2.99
- Older Daily Puzzles 2014 Jul - Dec$3.99
- Quantum Leap - 175 Puzzles$4.99
black (game)
- premium unlock$2.49
