Comparison

Blackbar vs Puzzmo

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

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!

Screenshots

Blackbar3 screens
Puzzmo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Puzzmo at Free against Blackbar's $2.99. Puzzmo also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 7 months). Blackbar's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, ratings volume, chart position 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

Puzzmo is free to download; Blackbar costs $2.99 up front. Puzzmo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Blackbar asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.6 for Blackbar against 3.7 for Puzzmo. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 97 and 172 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of Blackbar's written reviews are positive against 43% of Puzzmo's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Blackbar ships an update every 7 months, Puzzmo every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Blackbar versus Puzzmo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlackbarPuzzmo
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating3.6 (97 ratings)3.7 (172 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.6% of reviews — better42.9% of reviews
Number of ratings97172 — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#74 — better#126
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.7 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB7 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperMrgan LLCPuzzmo Inc.

Customer experience

Blackbar

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

Puzzmo

All ratings172 ratings
Positive65.1%
Neutral5.8%
Negative29.1%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive42.9%
Neutral16.9%
Negative40.3%

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

Puzzmo

From 172 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth app experience
  • 🎮 Variety of classic games
  • 👍 High-quality puzzles

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Suboptimal UI/UX
  • 📱 Lacks iPad optimization
  • 💰 Subscription model concerns

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

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

In-app purchases

None

Blackbar

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Puzzmo

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

Questions

Is Blackbar free?
Blackbar costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Puzzmo free?
Puzzmo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Blackbar or Puzzmo?
Puzzmo is rated higher. Blackbar averages 3.6 out of 5 from 97 ratings, while Puzzmo averages 3.7 from 172 ratings.
Do Blackbar or Puzzmo have ads?
Puzzmo shows ads; Blackbar does not.
Which is updated more often, Blackbar or Puzzmo?
Blackbar ships an update every 7 months, and Puzzmo every 3 weeks. Most recently, Blackbar was updated on October 15, 2026 and Puzzmo on October 14, 2026.
Which is more popular, Blackbar or Puzzmo?
Blackbar currently peaks at #74 in the App Store charts, and Puzzmo at #126. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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