ngrms vs Cross & Brew
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ngrms
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Rapid wordplay meets minimalist design. Find as many words as you can from a single root—fast, focused, and endlessly replayable. Play solo to sharpen your mind, or compete against yourself and others on the local and global leaderboards. After each round, review your results with the all-new Game Summary screen that shows what you found (and what you missed). Now featuring a refreshed design with full support for light and dark mode, and offline play in multiple languages. No distractions. No ads. Just words.
Cross & Brew
Engage in relaxing word puzzles within a charming café atmosphere. Swipe letters to form words and fill crossword-style grids at your own pace, with no timers or distractions. Discover bonus words and use earned currency for hints and power-ups.
- Cozy café-themed experience
- Hundreds of handcrafted puzzles
- Bean economy for hints/power-ups
- Beautifully illustrated backgrounds
- No timers, play at your own pace
- Works offline
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A cozy café word puzzle you'll actually want to come back to. Swipe letters on a wheel to build words that fill a crossword grid. No timers. No pop-ups. No chaos — just you, the puzzle, and the warm hum of a coffee shop in the background. HOW TO PLAY Swipe connected letters on the wheel to spell words that fill a crossword-style grid. Find all the required words to complete the puzzle. Discover bonus words for extra beans — our in-game currency that fits right into the café theme. WHAT MAKES CROSS & BREW DIFFERENT Word puzzle games have gotten cluttered. Event timers, pop-up offers, flashing distractions — the simple joy of finding a word has been buried under noise. Cross & Brew strips all of that away. What you get instead: a warm café atmosphere, beautifully illustrated backgrounds, a bean-based economy that makes sense in context, and puzzles that respect your time. FEATURES - Cozy café-themed experience unlike anything else in the genre - Hundreds of handcrafted crossword-style puzzles - Bean economy — earn beans to unlock hints and power-ups - Beautifully illustrated café backgrounds - No timers, no pressure — play at your own pace - Clean, distraction-free interface - Works offline THE STORY BEHIND THE GAME Cross & Brew was built by one person — Darren, a solo indie developer from Florida. It started on the couch: his wife with a coffee, him with a word game, both half-watching Wheel of Fortune. His wife's love of coffee shops — she genuinely can't pass a good one without stopping in — inspired the whole café world the game lives in. Pull up a chair. The coffee's on. ABOUT DECK 14 STUDIOS Deck 14 Studios is an independent game studio based in Freeport, Florida. Cross & Brew is our first release. More games are coming — each one built with the same care and attention to the player experience. deck14studios.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ngrms at none against Cross & Brew's 5. ngrms also leads on ads (none vs shown). Cross & Brew's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price 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
Both are free to download. Cross & Brew sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. ngrms asks for nothing beyond the download.
ngrms ships an update every 3 months, Cross & Brew every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ngrms | Cross & Brew |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 135 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Leopold Lemmermann | Deck14 Studios LLC |
In-app purchases
ngrms
No in-app purchases
Cross & Brew
- Espresso Shot$0.99
- Morning Blend$1.99
- Ad-Free Forever$2.99
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- Cold Brew$3.99
- Full Roast$9.99









