Verbena vs Spice Sort
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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/
Spice Sort
A calming, offline puzzle game where you sort colorful spices into glass jars. Enjoy hand-crafted levels with no timers or pressure, and a focus on relaxation and accessibility.
- 500 hand-tuned, solvable levels
- Daily Spice challenges
- Unlimited undo and instant restart
- Relaxing pour animations and sounds
- Offline play
- Colorblind assist mode
- VoiceOver and Reduce Motion support
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Spice Sort is a calm, hand-crafted sorting puzzle. Pour ground spices between glass jars until every jar holds a single color. That's the whole game — no timers, no lives, no energy meters, no pressure. It's the sort-puzzle you've played before, with a warmer soul: a dim pantry, real glass jars, and eight richly colored spices — turmeric, paprika, basil, sumac, black pepper, cinnamon, blue butterfly pea, and pink Himalayan salt. WHY YOU'LL KEEP IT ON YOUR PHONE • 500 hand-tuned levels, each one guaranteed solvable • A new Daily Spice every day — the same puzzle for everyone, with a streak to keep • Unlimited undo and instant restart. Stuck is never a dead end. • Genuinely relaxing pour animations and soft, tactile sounds BUILT TO RESPECT YOU • No ads. Not one. • No accounts, no sign-up, nothing to buy. • Works completely offline — play on a plane, on the subway, anywhere. • Google usage analytics and crash sharing are on by default. Turn either off in Settings. No advertising use. MADE FOR EVERYONE • Colorblind assist mode adds a distinct pattern to every spice • Full VoiceOver support and Reduce Motion friendly • One-handed, portrait, pick-up-and-play Sort a jar. Breathe. Sort another.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Spice Sort at free against Verbena's subscription. Verbena's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly). 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 Verbena against 5.0 for Spice Sort. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 5 respectively.
Verbena ships an update every 2 days, Spice Sort fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Verbena | Spice Sort |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Naizhong Xu | Prachi Jain |
Customer experience
Verbena
Spice Sort
In-app purchases
Verbena
No in-app purchases
Spice Sort
No in-app purchases









