Comparison

Blackbar vs Knotwords

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

Head to head
About

Blackbar

Experience a sci-fi narrative of a dystopian future through engaging word puzzles. This text-based game uses a unique censorship mechanic to challenge players, offering a blend of frustration and intellectual satisfaction.

Highlights
  • Text-based sci-fi story
  • Word puzzle gameplay
  • Unique censorship mechanic
  • Dystopian future narrative
  • Challenging and thought-provoking
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

"Blackbar is a brilliant game." —Ron Gilbert "Its allegories are smart, and its approach to story-telling on touch-devices is just as well. 4.5/5" —TouchArcade "Taut and intelligent. 8/10" —Eurogamer "A political statement—a super fun one. I _______ love this _______ game." —Loren Brichter "Awesome and totally unexpected." —Shaun Inman Blackbar is a text game: a sci-fi story of a dystopian future told through the medium of word puzzles. Reminiscent of text adventures and interactive fiction, it has a unique mechanic centered around the concept of censorship. Censorship is frustrating, but the human spirit can beat that frustration by turning it into a game. You'll pick up Blackbar instantly; however, its challenges will keep you searching, thinking, and trying for days. "An ingenious puzzle game that critiques censorship" —Fast Company "The humor is black, the puzzles go from simple to truly challenging, and the story is top-notch." —Gamemoir "Playing Blackbar is Like High School English Class, And I Love It." —Kotaku "Wonderfully written and does a fantastic job of pulling you into a not entirely unrealistic tale." —Gizmodo "Well-written and entertaining, with just a touch of a deeper message to hit a few concepts home. Just plain awesome." —JayIsGames

About

Knotwords

A daily word puzzle game that challenges you to arrange letters into valid words across and down. Its minimal design and intuitive progression make it an engaging and accessible brain teaser.

Highlights
  • Minimalist and elegant design
  • Logic-based word puzzles
  • Daily challenges
  • Intuitive progression system
  • Valid word arrangement
Features
Read full description

Knotwords is a minimal and elegant logic puzzle — with words. The rules are simple: arrange the letters in each section so every word is valid, across and down. Each puzzle may seem difficult at first — but like all my favorite newspaper puzzles, it gets easier as you progress. Each step guides you naturally towards the solution. This is the kind of game I've been trying to make my whole career — I'm amazed Jack and I discovered this design. We hope you like it. -- Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Blackbar3 screens
Knotwords4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Knotwords at Free against Blackbar's $2.99. Knotwords also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.6) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 7 months). Blackbar's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and chart position (#74 vs unranked). On review sentiment, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Knotwords is free to download; Blackbar costs $2.99 up front. Knotwords sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. Blackbar asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Knotwords holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Knotwords has 8.1K ratings behind it against 97, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Blackbar's written reviews are positive against 73% of Knotwords's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Blackbar ships an update every 7 months, Knotwords every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Blackbar versus Knotwords: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlackbarKnotwords
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating3.6 (97 ratings)4.8 (8.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.6% of reviews73.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings978.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#74 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.713.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB507 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperMrgan LLCZach Gage

Customer experience

Blackbar

All ratings97 ratings
Positive56.7%
Neutral11.3%
Negative32.0%
Written reviews183 reviews
Positive65.6%
Neutral12.0%
Negative22.4%

Knotwords

All ratings8,097 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral2.1%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews293 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral13.3%
Negative13.7%

User reviews

Blackbar

From 97 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Clever and unique gameplay
  • 👍 Engaging and thought-provoking story
  • 🤔 Challenging puzzles and word games

Room to improve

  • ⏱️ Too short for the price
  • 🤯 Some puzzles too obscure or difficult
  • 🐛 Bugs and compatibility issues

Knotwords

From 8.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 👍 Fun and challenging
  • 🚀 Simple but engaging
  • 👍 Unique concept
  • 👍 Addictive

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Buggy cursor/input issues
  • 🐛 Slow performance
  • 🐛 Questionable word choices
  • 🔋 Battery drain

Bugs and requests

Blackbar

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App crashes or freezes on certain devices
  • Inability to progress past initial screen

Requested features

3 requests
  • Longer gameplay and expanded story
  • More levels or chapters
  • Hints or clues for difficult puzzles

Knotwords

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Puzzles with missing/incorrect squares
  • Incorrect words being accepted
  • Puzzles not properly credited as completed
  • Hints not matching the correct answers

Requested features

9 requests
  • Ability to turn off haptic feedback
  • Improved cursor/input behavior
  • Cloud sync across devices
  • Difficulty settings
  • Ability to see definitions of completed words
Show 4 more
  • Restart button for puzzles
  • Customizable themes
  • Daily leaderboards
  • Ability to disable hints once used

In-app purchases

None

Blackbar

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Knotwords

Subscriptions1
  • Knotwords Pro subscription7 Days trial$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • Full Game$11.99

Questions

Is Blackbar free?
Blackbar costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Knotwords free?
Knotwords is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Blackbar or Knotwords?
Knotwords is rated higher. Blackbar averages 3.6 out of 5 from 97 ratings, while Knotwords averages 4.8 from 8.1K ratings.
Do Blackbar or Knotwords have ads?
Neither Blackbar nor Knotwords shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Blackbar or Knotwords?
Blackbar ships an update every 7 months, and Knotwords every 10 days. Most recently, Blackbar was updated on October 11, 2026 and Knotwords on October 14, 2026.

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