Red Herring vs literally
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Red Herring
Connect words into categories in this fun and challenging puzzle game. Watch out for misleading words designed to throw you off. With multiple difficulty levels and no time limit, it's suitable for all ages.
- Group words into categories
- Identify misleading 'Red Herring' words
- Challenging and thought-provoking gameplay
- 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.
literally
Engage in a timed word-building challenge where you race against the clock to form words from available letters. This game offers a substantial story mode with numerous levels and tasks, alongside unique challenges like deciphering aphorisms. It features a simplified mode for a relaxed experience and detailed statistics to track your progress.
- 200-level story mode
- 66 aphorism deciphering tasks
- Simplified, relaxed mode
- Minimalistic design
- Detailed statistics
- Power saving mode
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literally is a word game in which your main opponent is time. This is a race in which you have to collect words from letters so that the game does not end. you've probably missed the standard feature lists, so I've prepared another one for you: • a story consisting of 200 levels and 77 tasks. you can't think of a better brain workout (of course, if you don't feel like reading books; books are the best) • 66 aphorisms are frantically waiting for you to decipher them • simplified mode for those who do not like to rush • minimalistic design and incredible Ukrainian-made fonts • statistics that analyze to the smallest detail what you wasted your time on • surprisingly catchy animation in the main menu • power saving mode, which will help kill the battery more slowly (for example, by turning off the surprisingly catchy animation in the main menu)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: literally at none against Red Herring's shown. literally also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). Red Herring's advantage is ratings volume (48K vs 518) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 literally sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Red Herring holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Red Herring has 48K ratings behind it against 518, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Red Herring's written reviews are positive against 73% of literally's.
Red Herring ships an update every 3 months, literally every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Red Herring | literally |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (48K ratings) — better | 4.5 (518 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 75.6% of reviews — better | 73.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 48K — better | 518 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| 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 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 81 MB | 18 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Blue Ox Family Games, Inc. | Oleksandr Kozlov |
Customer experience
Red Herring
literally
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
literally
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
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
literally
- Bubble gum$0.99
- Coffee$2.99
- Chicken wings$4.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Borscht$9.99
