Cipher Challenge vs Emoji Connections
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cipher Challenge
Engage your mind with a variety of cipher decoding challenges. Practice different cipher types, track your progress, and compete with friends. Unlock quotes and sync your achievements across devices.
- Multiple cipher modes
- Letter frequency analysis
- Multiplayer competition
- Unlocked quote gallery
- Score history tracking
- iCloud sync across devices
- Hard mode challenge
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A cipher decoding game. Cipher modes: Aristocrat, Patristocrat, Caesar, Random substitution cipher, K1 cipher, K2 cipher Additional features: - See letter frequency table and cipher letter -> original letter mapping table - Share link or game id to friends and compete on the same puzzle - View all the unlocked quotes - See score history - Unlocked quotes and scores are sync'ed across iPhone, iPad and Mac computers through iCloud - Enable hard mode for a special challenge Also perfect for Science Olympiad (SciOly) Codebusters practice.
Emoji Connections
This puzzle game challenges you to sort emoji cards into matching groups. Find the odd one out and solve each row by swapping cards to create categories. Enjoy hundreds of levels with visual puzzles that require no reading.
- Hundreds of levels
- Visual emoji cards
- Tap-to-swap and drag-to-swap controls
- Offline play
- Customizable card backs and backgrounds
- Move limits for added challenge
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Can you spot the connections? Sort emoji cards into matching groups — find the odd one out and solve every row! Emoji Connections is a brain puzzle game where you swap and match image cards by category. Each row needs 4 cards that belong together. Tap or drag to swap cards, spot the pattern, and clear the board! HOW TO PLAY - Look at the grid of emoji image cards - Find 4 cards that share the same category - Tap two cards to swap their positions - Fill a complete row with matching cards to solve it - Clear all rows to win the level! FEATURES - Hundreds of levels with increasing challenge - Visual image cards — no reading required - Tap-to-swap and drag-to-swap controls - Smooth animations and satisfying solves - Queue system: extra categories revealed as you progress - Move limit for an added brain challenge - Customize card backs and backgrounds - Works offline — play anywhere, anytime A fresh twist on the classic connections puzzle. Instead of words, sort visual emoji cards into matching categories. Easy to pick up, tricky to master — the perfect match for a quick brain quiz or a long puzzle session. Download free and start sorting!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Emoji Connections at daily against Cipher Challenge's every 6 weeks. Emoji Connections also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Cipher Challenge's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Cipher Challenge against 5.0 for Emoji Connections. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.
Cipher Challenge ships an update every 6 weeks, Emoji Connections daily. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cipher Challenge | Emoji Connections |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 194 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bao Lei | TidalAurum, LLC |
Customer experience
Cipher Challenge
Emoji Connections
In-app purchases
Cipher Challenge
No in-app purchases
Emoji Connections
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Cipher Challenge free?
Is Emoji Connections free?
Which has better reviews, Cipher Challenge or Emoji Connections?
Do Cipher Challenge or Emoji Connections have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cipher Challenge or Emoji Connections?
Other comparisons
