Comparison

Crack the Code vs Cartographer's Lie

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

Head to head
About

Crack the Code

A fast-paced logic puzzle where you deduce a secret 4-digit code. Compete against yourself or up to 7 friends in real-time multiplayer, using color-coded clues to guide your guesses. Track your progress and climb global leaderboards.

Highlights
  • Deduce secret 4-digit code
  • Color-coded clue system
  • Real-time multiplayer for up to 7 friends
  • Solo play with global leaderboard
  • Game history and stats tracking
  • Ad-free and no data tracking
Features
Read full description

Crack the Code is a fast, satisfying logic puzzle that tests your deduction skills against yourself or up to 7 friends in real time. The rules are simple: the app picks a 4-digit secret code with no repeated digits. Your job is to crack it. After every guess, your digits light up with color-coded clues: - GREEN — right digit, right position - ORANGE — the digit is in the code, but in the wrong spot - GRAY — not in the code at all Use the colors to narrow it down. Whoever cracks the code in the fewest tries — and the shortest time — earns the high score. PLAY YOUR WAY - Solo Game — race against yourself, climb the global top-20 leaderboard - Play with Friends — create a 6-character room code, share it, and race up to 7 friends in real-time multiplayer LIVE MULTIPLAYER Watch your opponents' attempt counters tick up live. When someone cracks it first, everyone else gets the news instantly. Decide whether to keep playing for the personal win, or hop out and start a new round. KEEPS YOU MOVING - Game History — every game you've played, with your stats - Leaderboard — top 20 globally, ranked by score (faster + fewer tries = higher) - Settings — sound effects on/off - Forgot password? — built-in reset flow NO ADS, NO TRACKING We don't show ads. We don't sell your data. We collect only what's needed to run the leaderboard and multiplayer features. Read our privacy policy for the full breakdown. For ages 13+. Free.

About

Cartographer's Lie

Engage in daily deduction puzzles on a hex-based island. Use clues to identify a single lying hex, with four difficulty tiers and a puzzle composer. Track your progress and streaks, with offline play available.

Highlights
  • Daily deduction puzzles
  • Four difficulty tiers
  • Puzzle composer
  • Note-taking tools
  • Streak tracking
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

One island. Forty-eight hexes. A handful of clues, and exactly one of them is lying. Every day brings a new map and a new deduction. Read the clues, rule out what cannot be true, and find the single hex that fits. No guessing, no luck, no coin flips. THE SETTER CAN DECEIVE. THE SETTER CANNOT CHEAT. Puzzles are built to mislead you, and a red herring is a legitimate weapon. But before a single one reaches you, a fairness gate proves that exactly one hex satisfies every clue and that you can reach it by elimination alone. Misdirection is fair. Ambiguity is not. A clue that eliminates nothing is banned outright. THREE TIERS FREE, EVERY DAY Casual, Standard and Hard, each with a measured difficulty rating. Three fresh puzzles daily. Start where you are comfortable and climb. The daily Fiendish chart comes with the Guild. TAKE NOTES YOUR WAY Tap to mark hexes, long-press for colour tags, highlight the map by individual clue. Or switch to Pure mode and hold the whole thing in your head. THREE GUESSES Each one costs you more than the last. Solve it clean, or do not solve it at all. SET YOUR OWN PUZZLES Build them in the composer with live candidate counts, a difficulty projection and Preview-as-Solver. You have to prove you can solve it before anyone else sees it. STREAKS AND STATS Daily streaks with freezes for the days life gets in the way, a spoiler-free grid for sharing your solve, and a skill rating that tracks how you are actually doing rather than how you feel you are doing. Play offline any time. Sign in with Apple to sync your history and play ranked. CARTOGRAPHER'S GUILD SUBSCRIPTION Cartographer's Guild is an optional auto-renewable subscription: the daily Fiendish chart, unlimited extra charts, the full archive, a solve review after every chart, targeted practice, rating and clue-type analysis, setter analytics, the ranked ladder, unlimited streak freezes and cosmetics. Casual, Standard and Hard stay free, every day. • 1 month: $3.99 per month • 1 year: $29.99 per year Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://wisejester-sudo.github.io/cartographers-lie/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://wisejester-sudo.github.io/cartographers-lie/privacy.html

Screenshots

Crack the Code3 screens
Cartographer's Lie4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Crack the Code at none against Cartographer's Lie's 2. Crack the Code also leads on ratings volume (4 vs 1). Cartographer's Lie's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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

Both are free to download. Cartographer's Lie sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Crack the Code asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Crack the Code against 5.0 for Cartographer's Lie. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Crack the Code ships an update every 2 weeks, Cartographer's Lie every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Crack the Code versus Cartographer's Lie: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrack the CodeCartographer's Lie
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB39 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperOmniCode LLCKevin Marsh

Customer experience

Crack the Code

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Cartographer's Lie

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Crack the Code

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Cartographer's Lie

Subscriptions2
  • Guild Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Guild Annual$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Crack the Code free?
Crack the Code is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cartographer's Lie free?
Cartographer's Lie is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Crack the Code or Cartographer's Lie?
Crack the Code and Cartographer's Lie are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Crack the Code or Cartographer's Lie have ads?
Neither Crack the Code nor Cartographer's Lie shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Crack the Code or Cartographer's Lie?
Crack the Code ships an update every 2 weeks, and Cartographer's Lie every 2 days. Most recently, Crack the Code was updated on October 15, 2026 and Cartographer's Lie on October 16, 2026.

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