Comparison

Gridzen vs Plain and Simple Games

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

Head to head
About

Gridzen

Engage your mind with a collection of five distinct logic puzzle games, each offering a new daily challenge. Enjoy unlimited practice, compete in real-time multiplayer races, and track your progress with detailed statistics. The app respects your privacy and offers optional rewarded ads for hints.

Highlights
  • Five unique logic puzzle games
  • Daily puzzle challenges
  • Unlimited practice levels
  • Real-time multiplayer matches
  • Detailed player statistics
  • Privacy-respecting design
Features
Read full description

Gridzen brings together five of the cleanest logic games into a single app. A fresh puzzle for each game every day. Unlimited practice levels when you want more. Real-time multiplayer when you want a race. The games • Solune — fill the grid with two symbols, never three in a row • Crowns — place one crown per row, column, and colour region • Mini Sudoku — the classic, distilled to a 6×6 grid • Trace — connect numbered dots in order without crossing a path • Plots — divide the grid into rectangles that match each clue Daily challenge The same puzzle is served to every player worldwide each day. Solve fast and your time goes on the daily leaderboard. Keep your streak alive by playing every day. Practice anytime Hundreds of hand-curated practice levels per game, organised by difficulty. Locked levels unlock as you progress, so the curve is always one step ahead. Multiplayer matches Get matched with another player at your skill level. First to the correct solution wins. ELO ratings, streaks, and a tier badge that climbs as you climb. No chat — just clean, fast, fair logic. Stats that matter Per-game streaks, win rates, average completion times, and your multiplayer record at a glance. Free to play. Privacy-respecting. Gridzen is free to play. Optional rewarded video ads let you earn bonus hints — they're never required to solve a puzzle. We don't sell your data, and the only personal data we collect is what the app needs to keep your progress in sync between your devices. Read the full privacy policy at gridzen.zentechsolution.com/privacy. Sign in with Apple, sign in with Google, or play as a guest. Your guest progress merges seamlessly when you create an account.

About

Plain and Simple Games

This app offers over 30 classic games with no ads, in-app purchases, or subscriptions. Enjoy a pure gaming experience without any distractions or hidden costs. All games are pre-loaded and playable offline.

Highlights
  • Over 30 classic games included
  • No advertisements
  • No in-app purchases or subscriptions
  • Offline play supported
  • No account required
  • No data collection or analytics
Features
Read full description

30+ games. No ads, nothing to download after you install it. Sudoku, Solitaire, Free Cell, Spider, Mahjong, American Mahjong, Minesweeper, Crossword, Word Search, Five in Six, Bridges, Loop, Cross Sums, Five Dice, Colour Sort, Parking Lot, Nonogram, Connect, 2048, Block Fit, Stack, Echo, Twin, Span, Places, Four Up, Dots and Boxes, Match Up, Low Twelve, Navigating the USA, Cross Off, Three Streets, Fifty Plates, Depot, Pin Tray, Chess, Checkers, Paddle, Star Guard, Noodle. WHY THIS EXISTS The usual ways of making an app pay for itself are the same things that make apps unpleasant. Ads need your attention. Subscriptions need you locked in. So this one doesn't. No advertisements, no purchases, no subscription, no "watch a video for a hint", no account required, and nothing about you collected. No analytics, and no third-party code in it at all. NOTHING HERE NEEDS A LUCKY GUESS Minesweeper, nonograms and bridges are each worked through before you are given them, using only the moves a person actually makes. Any board that would come down to a coin flip is thrown away and another grown. If you are stuck, there is always a deduction to find. SUDOKU Four difficulties, and the labels mean something: each puzzle is solved the way a person would, technique by technique, and labelled by the work that took. Pencil marks, unlimited undo, an optional timer, and a hint that explains the next step in plain English. FIVE IN SIX Guess the five-letter word in six tries. Everyone gets the same word each day, worked out from the date on your own device, so it works with no signal. Tiles use colour and shape together, so the board reads if you can't tell green from yellow. CHESS The real game, with every rule: castling, en passant, promotion, check, checkmate, stalemate, and the drawn games. Play the device at one of four levels, share one device with a friend, or play on two devices, each person on their own. Nobody wins by losing their connection. No clocks. ARCADE Three quick games with a bit of speed. Paddle: keep the ball in play, two players or three speeds against the device, first to seven. Star Guard: slide your ship along the bottom and clear the rows of angular shapes before they reach you. Noodle: steer a growing noodle round a wide arena, eat the glowing pellets and keep clear of the bots. Each remembers your best. Short sounds play on these three only, they stay quiet when your phone is on Silent, and one switch in Settings turns them off. AND MORE Klondike solitaire and Free Cell, draw one or draw three where it applies, with an honest "no moves left". Spider with one, two or four suits. Loop and Cross Sums, each board proved to have exactly one answer. Echo, Twin and Span. A crossword a day, clues written by hand. Five dice, colour sort, a car park a day, nonograms, connect, 2048 and block fit. Mahjong with every board clearable, Word Search with hand-written grids, Bridges, Stack, where a shape falls down a well and a full row clears. American Mahjong for four, with three players run by the device. And nine two-player games that share one iPad. YOUR SHELF Hide any game you don’t play; stats stay. A scorecard sits behind all 30+ games: streaks, best and average times, and a calendar of the days you played. ON YOUR DEVICES Your stats and half-finished games follow you to your iPad on their own, through your own iCloud. They don't pass through a Plain and Simple server, because there isn't one. Four Up, Dots and Boxes, Low Twelve and Chess can also be played on two devices in the same room (iOS 26 or later). One person hosts and reads out four digits, the other types them in. The devices talk directly to each other; no account, no server, nothing goes to the internet. Sign in with Apple is optional and separate, and asks Apple for no name and no email. PLAIN AND SIMPLE Small apps that do one thing, and don't ask for anything. help@plainandsimple.app

Screenshots

Gridzen4 screens
Plain and Simple Games4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Plain and Simple Games at none against Gridzen's shown. Plain and Simple Games also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). Gridzen's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Gridzen against 5.0 for Plain and Simple Games. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gridzen ships an update every 3 weeks, Plain and Simple Games every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Gridzen versus Plain and Simple Games: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGridzenPlain and Simple Games
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPritesh ThakerPlain and Simple Solutions LLC

Customer experience

Gridzen

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

Plain and Simple Games

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

In-app purchases

None

Gridzen

No in-app purchases

None

Plain and Simple Games

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Gridzen free?
Gridzen is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Plain and Simple Games free?
Plain and Simple Games is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Gridzen or Plain and Simple Games?
Gridzen and Plain and Simple Games are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Gridzen or Plain and Simple Games have ads?
Gridzen shows ads; Plain and Simple Games does not.
Which is updated more often, Gridzen or Plain and Simple Games?
Gridzen ships an update every 3 weeks, and Plain and Simple Games every 5 days. Most recently, Gridzen was updated on October 6, 2026 and Plain and Simple Games on October 19, 2026.

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