Comparison

Puzzmo vs DoodleBack

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

Head to head
About

Puzzmo

Discover a universe of daily puzzles with original games and modern classics. Enjoy word puzzles, strategy games, and crosswords with helpful hints. It's a free and engaging way to challenge your mind.

Highlights
  • Daily original puzzles
  • Classic puzzle games
  • Word puzzles
  • Strategy games
  • Crosswords with hints
  • Memory and matching games
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Hello! If you're reading this you either really love Puzzmo or you are somehow undecided about our app. Let's be clear: you should download the app. We made it for you and it's free and it's really good! What do you have to lose? Puzzmo is the center of the puzzle universe. You'll find fresh original games by brilliant designers like Zach Gage and new daily puzzles for modern classics like Cross|word, SpellTower, Flipart, Typeshift, Pile-Up Poker, Memoku, and more. You'll also find a little puzzle at the bottom of this AppStore description. Go on, scroll to the bottom. NEW: MEMOKU Inspired by the classic memory game, Memoku invites you to match pairs of numbers, but there's a twist – like Sudoku, no number can appear in the same row, column, or box twice. BONGO Bongo challenges you to build a better board out of twenty five tiles, often picked on a theme by Puzzmo's friends, community members, and celebrity guests. There’s always a better board. PILE-UP POKER Pile-Up Poker is a twist on traditional poker where players build rows and columns of poker hands. The objective is to create the highest overall score by adding cards one by one to the gird, making strategic decisions along the way. FLIPART Flipart is a modern twist on digital jigsaw puzzles. This free daily puzzle challenges you to rearrange Tetris-like shapes by tapping the pivot points so that none of the shapes overlap and they all fit within the border. Flipart puzzles are enjoyable for kids and adults alike! TYPESHIFT Typeshift is our free, daily captivating word puzzle game that challenges your vocabulary, spatial reasoning, and wit. Solve puzzles by shifting columns of letters like a combination lock to form words. Each puzzle is a fun brain-teaser chock full of both word search and strategy. CROSS|WORD Puzzmo crossword puzzles are for everyone. Some of the world’s top solvers compete daily for the fastest solve on Puzzmo, but that doesn’t mean we’re here to stump you. In fact if you’re new to crosswords or struggling complete a grid, we’re here to help. Only Puzzmo crosswords offer an optional, easier hint with every single clue. CUBECLEAR Cube Clear is a word puzzle game where players spell words in a grid whose letters then disappear. Longer words score higher points, and adjacent tiles disappear after use, causing remaining tiles to tumble to the bottom of the grid. With only 36 letters, the challenge of Cube Clear is two-fold. Can you clear the board, and in how few words? WORDBIND Wordbind is a directional anagram game that challenges you to discover new words hidden within the chosen words of the day. You can only key in letters from left to right, you’re allowed to skip letters, and you can use the same letter twice to find the perfect word. With each word you find, you rise the ranks on your way to Luminary status. REALLY BAD CHESS Aside from the small advantage white gains by making the first move, chess is a battle of wits between two competitors with the same pieces in the same positions. Puzzmo’s free daily Really Bad Chess game turns all of that “fairness” on its head. For example, you might have a huge material advantage with three queens while your computer opponent might have no queens and five rooks. The pieces may look random, but your advantage is carefully calculated! SPELLTOWER SpellTower is a two-dimensional grid of letters that looks like your typical word search puzzle. But unlike a traditional word search, you can change directions, cross your own path, go diagonal, and even spell backwards! This freedom of movement allows you to find more complex and challenging words, but this isn’t the only twist with SpellTower. As you use letters, they disappear from the grid, with the ultimate goal being a perfect, total clear of the entire board. You found it! If you can solve this classic riddle, enter the answer at puzzmo.com/code "Forward I’m heavy, backwards I’m not. What word am I?" Happy puzzling!

About

DoodleBack

Transform iMessage into a fun drawing and guessing game. Pick a word, draw it, and send it to a friend to guess. Continue the drawing chain, earn points, and enjoy a unique way to connect.

Highlights
  • Play directly in iMessage
  • Thousands of word prompts
  • Custom prompt creation
  • Smart hint system
  • Undo/redo drawing tools
  • Score and streak tracking
  • Drawing history view
Features
Read full description

Turn iMessage into an easy to play drawing game! HOW IT WORKS • Pick a word prompt (or create your own!) • Draw it with your finger • Send to your friend to guess • They guess your drawing, then draw something back • Keep the streak going and rack up points! FEATURES • Play right in iMessage - no separate app needed • Choose from thousands of prompts across 4 difficulty levels • Custom prompts for inside jokes and personal challenges • Smart hint system to help when you're stuck • Undo/redo while drawing for perfect doodles • Track your score and streak • View your drawing history together • Beautiful dark mode support • Live message bubbles with drawing animations SCORING SYSTEM • Easy words: 2 points • Medium words: 3 points • Hard words: 4 points • Very Hard words: 5 points • Custom prompts: 1 point • Use hints to get unstuck (reduces points earned) No ads. Just pure drawing fun with the people you care about. Send your first DoodleBack today!

Screenshots

Puzzmo4 screens
DoodleBack4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: DoodleBack at 94% against Puzzmo's 45%. DoodleBack also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.8) and ads (none vs shown). Puzzmo's advantage is chart position (#180 vs unranked) and ratings volume (156 vs 45). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Puzzmo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and DoodleBack sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

DoodleBack holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 156 and 45 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Puzzmo's written reviews are positive against 94% of DoodleBack's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Puzzmo ships an update fortnightly, DoodleBack every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Puzzmo versus DoodleBack: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPuzzmoDoodleBack
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (156 ratings)4.8 (45 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.1% of reviews94.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings156 — better45
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 9 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#180 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB12 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperPuzzmo Inc.BERG LLC

Customer experience

Puzzmo

All ratings156 ratings
Positive67.9%
Neutral5.8%
Negative26.3%
Written reviews71 reviews
Positive45.1%
Neutral15.5%
Negative39.4%

DoodleBack

All ratings45 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive94.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.9%

Bugs and requests

Puzzmo

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Crossword clues not locking in correctly
  • Transitions between games could be smoother

Requested features

3 requests
  • Ability to resume games from where left off
  • Numerical order for crossword clues
  • Remove subscription, keep account option

DoodleBack

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Puzzmo

Subscriptions2
  • Puzzmo Plus (monthly)7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Puzzmo Plus1 Month trial$39.991 Year
6 purchases

DoodleBack

One-time6
  • Handful (75 Coins)$0.99
  • Pouch (600 Coins)$4.99
  • Chest (1500 Coins)$9.99
Show 3 more
  • Cart (3500 Coins)$19.99
  • Vault (10000 Coins)$49.99
  • Pirate Ship (25000 Coins)$99.99

Questions

Is Puzzmo free?
Puzzmo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DoodleBack free?
DoodleBack is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Puzzmo or DoodleBack?
DoodleBack is rated higher. Puzzmo averages 3.8 out of 5 from 156 ratings, while DoodleBack averages 4.8 from 45 ratings.
Do Puzzmo or DoodleBack have ads?
Puzzmo shows ads; DoodleBack does not.
Which is updated more often, Puzzmo or DoodleBack?
Puzzmo ships an update fortnightly, and DoodleBack every 9 days. Most recently, Puzzmo was updated on September 22, 2026 and DoodleBack on September 25, 2026.

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