Comparison

Tessera vs PixelFlow

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

Head to head
About

Tessera

Engage with unique puzzles where the pieces are animated and constantly moving. Solve daily and weekly challenges with adjustable difficulty and helpful aids. Track your progress and enjoy a private, offline gaming experience.

Highlights
  • Animated puzzle pieces
  • Daily and weekly puzzles
  • Adjustable puzzle sizes (2x2 to 5x5)
  • Offline play
  • Progress tracking
  • Optional gameplay aids
  • No-stress mode
Features
Read full description

Tessera is a puzzle where the pieces are alive. Each puzzle is a small looping animation, cut into square tiles that keep moving while you reassemble them. Two puzzles wait for you every day. Today’s puzzle follows the week: seven scenes, one for each day, ready to play offline. This Week’s puzzle is a brand-new scene, released every Sunday. Swipe between them on the menu. Every puzzle comes in three sizes: 2×2, 3×3 and 4×4. Some are gentle. Some take real attention. Some weeks also bring a bonus 5×5: twenty-five pieces, untimed, to enjoy at your own pace. Connected pieces stay grouped, so a bonded chain travels as one. Hold the eye button to peek at the assembled picture, three times per puzzle. Two optional helpers, set before each game: a grid that shows where pieces meet, and outlines around the piece in your hand. Choose whichever suits you. Prefer a slower pace? Switch on no-stress mode in Settings. The clock disappears, peeks become unlimited, and placement is more forgiving. Your progress board fills in as you play: a dot for each day of the week, a row of Sundays for each month, and a star for every 5×5 you meet. Turn on the Sunday badge, and the app icon lets you know when a new scene arrives. Made for iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo, in every pose. In English and French. Play straight away, privately: your progress stays on your device. Tessera is made by one person, and a tip jar is there if you’d like to support new puzzles.

About

PixelFlow

Engage your mind with logic-based picture puzzles. Fill in squares based on number clues to reveal hidden images. Enjoy a calm, ad-free experience with hundreds of puzzles and daily challenges.

Highlights
  • Logic-based picture puzzles
  • Hundreds of puzzles
  • Daily puzzles
  • Themed picture packs
  • Offline play
  • No timer pressure
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

Color by logic. Reveal the picture. Optimized for iPad and iPhone Duo. PixelFlow is a nonogram — the picture cross puzzle also known as a griddler or hanjie. The numbers along each row and column tell you which squares to fill. Work out the cells you can be sure of, fill them in, and a small picture quietly appears under your fingers. No ads. No data monetization. No pop-ups begging for your attention — ever. Just clean, quiet puzzles that respect your time. WHAT'S INSIDE - 150 logic-checked puzzles — each has a single logical solution, so you never have to guess. - 16 themed Picture Packs, from Garden, Voyage, and Tide all the way to Aurora, Meridian, and Frontier — each pack with its own mood and palette. - Hold HINT for a gentle nudge — it reveals just one row and column, never the whole answer. - No timer pressure, no countdown, no way to lose. Prefer a clean board? Turn the stopwatch off. - Plays entirely offline. A FREE PUZZLE EVERY DAY A new Daily Puzzle every day, free — a quiet ritual, and a streak if you want one. BEAUTIFUL ON iPAD On iPad, PixelFlow uses the space instead of stretching into it: the board, menus, and layouts are tuned for the larger screen, in portrait and landscape. HOW TO PLAY A clue like "3" means three filled squares in a row. "1 1" means one square, a gap, then one more. Cross-check the rows against the columns to find the squares that can only be one thing — and the picture builds itself. WHAT WE BELIEVE - No ads, ever. - We don't monetize your data — your play stays yours. - Calm by design — no lives, no energy meters, no countdowns. - From a studio of puzzle aficionados who believe games should be worth your time. THE PUZZLE MASTER COLLECTION PixelFlow is part of the Puzzle Master Collection, our growing family of calm, ad-free puzzle games. Get the free Puzzle Master Collection bundle on the App Store in one download, and the More Games screen will introduce you to the rest. The first puzzles and the Daily Puzzle are free. When you want more, a one-time purchase unlocks the full game for good — or choose the optional Puzzle Master Pass. Fully localized in 12 languages — menus, puzzle packs, and even the picture names. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION Puzzle Master Pass (optional auto-renewable subscription): available monthly or annually — the exact price for your region is shown at purchase. Unlocks the full versions of the Puzzle Master games while active. Renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; manage or cancel any time in your Account settings. Restore Purchases is available on the store screen. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://jcy.studio/privacy

Screenshots

Tessera3 screens
PixelFlow4 screens

Verdict

The call

Tessera and PixelFlow are too close to call on the numbers: across 9 compared parameters — price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Tessera sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and PixelFlow sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Tessera against 5.0 for PixelFlow. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tessera ships an update fortnightly, PixelFlow every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Tessera versus PixelFlow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTesseraPixelFlow
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMaeva LieblingJCY Advisors

Customer experience

Tessera

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

PixelFlow

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Tessera

One-time3
  • Small tip$1.99
  • Nice tip$5.99
  • Generous tip$9.99
4 purchases

PixelFlow

Subscriptions2
  • Puzzle Master Pass — Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Puzzle Master Pass — Yearly$49.991 Year
One-time2
  • All Picture Packs$2.99
  • Puzzle Master$12.99

Questions

Is Tessera free?
Tessera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PixelFlow free?
PixelFlow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tessera or PixelFlow?
Tessera and PixelFlow are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Tessera or PixelFlow have ads?
Neither Tessera nor PixelFlow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tessera or PixelFlow?
Tessera ships an update fortnightly, and PixelFlow every 9 days. Most recently, Tessera was updated on October 25, 2026 and PixelFlow on October 23, 2026.

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