Comparison

Red Herring vs Synonymy Lite

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Group words into categories
  • Identify misleading "Red Herring" words
  • No time limit
  • Three difficulty levels
  • Daily puzzle
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Synonymy Lite

This educational word game challenges you to find a path between random words by navigating through their synonyms. It features narration by Richard Dawkins and a unique word network visualization. The lite version offers an ad-free experience with some restrictions.

Highlights
  • Synonym pathfinding gameplay
  • Narration by Richard Dawkins
  • Word network visualization
  • Ad-free experience
  • Charitable donations
Features
Read full description

Synonymy is a non-profit, educational word game narrated by Richard Dawkins that challenges players to find a path between random words through their network of synonyms. By taking the synonym of a word, and then a synonym of that synonym, and so on, you can ultimately arrive at any other word in the English language. Version 3.0 has been rebuilt behind the scenes to make the game easier and more fun without sacrificing the spirit of the game. The lite version now has no external ads, just a pop-up prompt to buy the full version. Website: www.synonymy-game.com ————————————————— Try the game Stephen Fry and Steven Pinker are tweeting about! A lite version of the game with ads and restrictions on multiplayer and difficulty settings. The Full Game supports unrestricted multiplayer, and weekly challenges in which users can compete globally on set start and end words. Every time a path is uncovered by a user, it is tweeted from @synonymywords and posted to our Facebook page. Synonymy is the first game by filmmaker Christopher Cinq-Mars Jarvis and is narrated by world-renowned author and biologist, Richard Dawkins. All profits go to various charitable, education-based foundations. ** Works best using iPhone 5/iPad 2 or later and iOS8 or later. Requires iOS7 or later. The game seems to work on older devices but performance might suffer. Please address any concerns to www.synonymy-game.com/#contact A visualization of the game's network can be seen here -- http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/159329 -- In order to compute relative distance, all synonyms were mapped using 3d graphing software, as if each word were a planet that had a gravitational pull proportional to its number of relationships to other nodes. Above is a 2D representation of that model, a 40,000 x 40,000 image.

Screenshots

Red Herring3 screens
Synonymy Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Synonymy Lite at none against Red Herring's 10. Synonymy Lite also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Red Herring's advantage is review sentiment (76% vs 50%) and ratings volume (48K vs 7). On price, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Red Herring sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Synonymy Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Synonymy Lite holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Red Herring has 48K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 76% of Red Herring's written reviews are positive against 50% of Synonymy Lite's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Red Herring ships an update every 3 months, Synonymy Lite every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Red Herring versus Synonymy Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRed HerringSynonymy Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (48K ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.8% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings48K — better7
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.66.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB105 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlue Ox Family Games, Inc.Cinq-Mars Media

Customer experience

Red Herring

All ratings47,841 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral3.2%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews326 reviews
Positive75.8%
Neutral12.6%
Negative11.7%

Synonymy Lite

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral6.3%
Negative43.8%

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

Synonymy Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Red Herring

One-time10
  • Curiosity - 50 Puzzles$1.99
  • Brilliant! - 50 Puzzles$1.99
  • Allegro - 50 Puzzles$1.99
Show 7 more
  • 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
None

Synonymy Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Red Herring free?
Red Herring is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Synonymy Lite free?
Synonymy Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Red Herring or Synonymy Lite?
Synonymy Lite is rated higher. Red Herring averages 4.7 out of 5 from 48K ratings, while Synonymy Lite averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Red Herring or Synonymy Lite have ads?
Red Herring shows ads; Synonymy Lite does not.
Which is updated more often, Red Herring or Synonymy Lite?
Red Herring ships an update every 3 months, and Synonymy Lite every 5 months. Most recently, Red Herring was updated on October 25, 2026 and Synonymy Lite on October 18, 2026.

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