Word Tack vs Verbena
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Word Tack
A relaxing word-sorting puzzle game where you group scattered words into their hidden categories. Enjoy a handcrafted aesthetic with no timers or penalties, and customize your game experience. Play daily puzzles and track your progress with gentle assistance available.
- Handcrafted word-sorting puzzles
- No timers or penalties
- Daily puzzles with shareable results
- Customizable desk aesthetics
- Gentle in-game hints
- Offline play
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Sort 40 words into 8 groups. Swap tiles until every row of five shares something, and watch each finished row get taped down to the desk. Word Tack is a word puzzle made of paper: typewritten labels, washi tape and tiles that look cut out by hand. There are no timers and no lives. Try as many moves as you like. HOW IT PLAYS • Each board has 40 words in 8 rows, and every group of five words shares something. • Drag a tile onto another to swap them, or tap one tile and then the other. • Get all five right and the row is taped down, with its group written above. Solve rows back to back for a streak bonus. • Solve a board without help for three stars. 140 LEVELS AND A DAILY PUZZLE • 140 hand-made levels, each marked easy, medium or hard. • A new daily puzzle every day, with a streak to keep and an emoji grid to share. HELP WHEN YOU'RE STUCK • An Inkling links two words from the same group. A Clue names three groups. • Pick up a tile first to aim either one at that word. • Hold a tile to look its word up in the dictionary. • Up to three unsolved levels are open at once, and each keeps your board, so one hard level never holds you up. • Still stuck? Spend stamps to have a row solved for you. MAKE IT YOURS • Earn stamps as you play and spend them in the shop: tape colours, tile papers, row seals, desks, confetti and sound packs. • Eight sound packs, from rustling paper to a music box. Every row you solve plays a note higher than the last. • No in-app purchases. Everything in the shop is earned by playing. PLAYS WITH VOICEOVER • Double-tap two cards to swap them, or move a card up or down a row from the Actions rotor. • Hear each row as you solve it, and two-finger double-tap to hear the words that are left. ANY SCREEN, ANY WAY UP • Play on iPhone or iPad, upright or on its side. • Made for iPhone Duo: play folded on the outer screen, or open it up for a bigger board. NO ADS, NO ACCOUNTS • No ads, no tracking and no sign-in. Word Tack works fully offline.
Verbena
A cozy word game that blends gardening with roguelike deckbuilding. Spell words to achieve seasonal goals, collect enchanted charms to create powerful combos, and nurture your garden through the changing seasons. Enjoy a relaxed, turn-based experience with no timers or ads.
- Word spelling and garden growing
- Roguelike deckbuilding mechanics
- Collect and combine enchanted charms
- Seasonal progression with unique challenges
- Daily challenges and leaderboards
- Relaxed, turn-based gameplay
- Cozy visuals and soothing soundtrack
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Verbena — a cozy word roguelike. Spell words. Grow your garden. Chase the bloom. Verbena blends the calm of a cozy garden with the moreish "just one more run" of a roguelike deckbuilder. Draw a rack of letters, spell words to reach each season's goal, then visit the Garden Shop to collect enchanted charms — a Sunflower that adds to every word, a Dewdrop that rewards vowels, a Lucky Ladybug that multiplies your score. Stack charms into run-defining combos and see how many seasons your garden can survive. No timers. No pressure. No ads, ever. A fresh fusion — word game meets roguelike deckbuilder Collect from 17 charms (with a Charm Codex to complete) and build wild combos Special seasons add twists — gentler goals, bonus leaves, lusher words Daily Challenge — everyone gets the same letters; build your streak A garden that blooms through Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter as you climb Cozy visuals, a soothing synth soundtrack, and a relaxed turn-based pace Light & dark "night garden" themes — and it autosaves, so pick up anytime Universal — plays on iPhone and iPad Accessibility-minded: no timers, Relaxed difficulty, VoiceOver, readable-letters, reduce-motion, a Hint helper Game Center leaderboards & achievements, plus personal Records A 200,000-word dictionary Try 7 days free, then S$2.99/month — no ads, no tracking, cancel anytime Whether you have two minutes or twenty, plant a new garden and watch it bloom. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Word Tack at free against Verbena's subscription. Verbena's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 days). On price, rating, ratings volume 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
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 Word Tack against 5.0 for Verbena. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.
Word Tack ships an update every 5 days, Verbena every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Word Tack | Verbena |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Heath Behrens | Naizhong Xu |
Customer experience
Word Tack
Verbena
In-app purchases
Word Tack
No in-app purchases
Verbena
No in-app purchases









