Comparison

Phantom Words vs Jarble

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

Head to head
About

Phantom Words

Unscramble letters by sliding rows and columns to form words. Discover hidden letters as you play, with increasing complexity and new mechanics introduced. Offers multiple game modes for varied challenges.

Highlights
  • Sliding row and column puzzles
  • Hidden letter discovery
  • Progressive difficulty
  • Multiple game modes (Classic, Endless, Daily, Lightning)
  • iCloud sync across devices
  • Game Center leaderboards
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

We made Phantom Words for anyone who loves that small, satisfying moment when a jumble of letters suddenly turns into a word. Each board begins scrambled, with most of the letters hidden behind ghost tiles. Slide rows and columns like a 2D Rubik’s Cube, then look for words running across or down the board. Whenever you make one using a tile for the first time, another letter appears. Once every tile is used, the puzzle is complete. Longer words are worth more, while tiles lose value each time you use them. Yellow means a tile is nearly spent; red means you’ve leaned on it too often. Later boards introduce gaps that split rows and columns, multi-letter tiles that keep their letters together, wildcards that can stand in for any letter, and locked tiles that stay fixed until you use them in a word. And if a solution feels messy, you can always come back and find a more elegant one. There are four ways to play: • Classic has 99 handmade levels with increasing difficulty and evolving mechanics. • Endless starts small and procedurally grows while you play. • Daily Challenge gives everyone a new board each day, plus a streak to keep going. • Lightning Mode is the same word hunting, but against the clock. Classic, Endless, and Daily Challenge aren’t timed, so there’s no rush. You get a full score breakdown after each level and can replay it whenever you want. Your progress and settings sync across your devices with iCloud. There are also Game Center leaderboards if you care about high scores. We hope you enjoy discovering the words we’ve hidden for you.

About

Jarble

Engage your mind with a unique word game where you swap letters to form new words of the same length. Choose from daily challenges, competitive timed matches, or a solo adventure with hundreds of levels.

Highlights
  • Swap up to 5 letters
  • Maintain word length
  • Daily mental challenges
  • 60-second timed matches
  • 300 solo levels
  • Multiplayer via game code
Features
Read full description

JARBLE-The letter swap word game. The name of the game is simple, change up to 5 letters in place to make a different valid word. The length never changes — substitution only. Three ways to play Daily, Quick Match and Solo. Daily-A daily mental spark that gives you something new every day. Share your results with friends or coworkers. Quick Match-For the competitive player-A word appears; you have 60 seconds to think of a new word and swap the letters. Fewest swaps wins the round, but if any players land on the same word they cancel out and neither scores. 10 rounds, most round wins takes the game. Solo-For the more casual player. 300 levels that increase in difficulty the further you go along. Play on your pace! Play Quick Match with friends as well. Share the game code and start a match!

Screenshots

Phantom Words4 screens
Jarble4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Jarble at Free against Phantom Words's $2.99. Jarble also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3). Phantom Words's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 6 weeks). On rating, device support and iOS requirement 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

Jarble is free to download; Phantom Words costs $2.99 up front. Phantom Words sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Jarble asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Phantom Words holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Phantom Words has 23 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 93% of Phantom Words's written reviews are positive against 67% of Jarble's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Phantom Words ships an update every 5 days, Jarble every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Phantom Words versus Jarble: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhantom WordsJarble
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (23 ratings) — better4.5 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews93.3% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings23 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
Best chart rank#37 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size131 MB42 MB
Age rating+412+
DeveloperFleon LabsF Originations LLC

Customer experience

Phantom Words

All ratings22 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive93.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative0.0%

Jarble

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Phantom Words

One-time3
  • Kind Supporter$2.49
  • Generous Supporter$4.99
  • Huge Supporter$9.99
None

Jarble

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Phantom Words free?
Phantom Words costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Jarble free?
Jarble is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Phantom Words or Jarble?
Phantom Words is rated higher. Phantom Words averages 4.7 out of 5 from 23 ratings, while Jarble averages 4.5 from 4 ratings.
Do Phantom Words or Jarble have ads?
Jarble shows ads; Phantom Words does not.
Which is updated more often, Phantom Words or Jarble?
Phantom Words ships an update every 5 days, and Jarble every 6 weeks. Most recently, Phantom Words was updated on November 5, 2026 and Jarble on November 7, 2026.

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