Comparison

Phantom Words vs Match Attack

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

Match Attack

Engage in roguelike match-3 combat where tile swaps trigger attacks, defense, and healing. Collect powerful relics and build game-breaking synergies across multiple chapters. Enjoy single-player, offline gameplay with no timers or energy systems.

Highlights
  • Match tiles to attack, defend, and heal
  • Create powerful tile cascades
  • Collect over 280 synergistic relics
  • Progress through three distinct chapters
  • Unlock permanent relics through runs
  • Ascension tiers for increased difficulty
Features
Read full description

Match Attack is a match-3 roguelike game where the board is your weapon! Swap tiles to make matches and watch satisfying cascades. Set up the perfect board, collect upgrades and create gamebreaking builds! - Match tiles to attack, defend, recharge and heal - Get rewarded for bigger matches with clears, empowered tiles, wildcards, and bombs - 280+ relics with synergizing mechanics - Three chapters, each with fights, elites, events, shops, rest sites, and a boss finale - Earn experience from every run to permanently unlock new relics - Ascension tiers add difficulty for uncapped replayability Single-player, fully offline. No timers, no energy. One optional in-app purchase to removes ads and support the solo developer!

Screenshots

Phantom Words4 screens
Match Attack4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Match Attack at Free against Phantom Words's $2.99. Match Attack also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 days). Phantom Words's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#46 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and in-app purchases 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

Match Attack is free to download; Phantom Words costs $2.99 up front. Phantom Words sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Match Attack sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Phantom Words against 4.7 for Match Attack. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 22 and 12 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of Phantom Words's written reviews are positive against 100% of Match Attack's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Phantom Words ships an update every 5 days, Match Attack every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Phantom Words versus Match Attack: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhantom WordsMatch Attack
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (22 ratings) — better4.7 (12 ratings)
Positive reviews93.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings22 — better12
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#46 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size130 MB111 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperFleon LabsMichael Ip

Customer experience

Phantom Words

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

Match Attack

All ratings12 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Phantom Words

One-time3
  • Kind Supporter$2.49
  • Generous Supporter$4.99
  • Huge Supporter$9.99
1 purchases

Match Attack

One-time1
  • Match Attack Remove Ads$1.99

Questions

Is Phantom Words free?
Phantom Words costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Match Attack free?
Match Attack is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Phantom Words or Match Attack?
Phantom Words is rated higher. Phantom Words averages 4.8 out of 5 from 22 ratings, while Match Attack averages 4.7 from 12 ratings.
Do Phantom Words or Match Attack have ads?
Match Attack shows ads; Phantom Words does not.
Which is updated more often, Phantom Words or Match Attack?
Phantom Words ships an update every 5 days, and Match Attack every 2 days. Most recently, Phantom Words was updated on October 19, 2026 and Match Attack on October 7, 2026.

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