Comparison

Phantom Words vs Keepsweeper

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

Keepsweeper

Engage in strategic kingdom building combined with Minesweeper-style deduction. Uncover tiles, develop your settlement, and explore hidden treasures. Choose from multiple quest paths or compete with friends in multiplayer modes.

Highlights
  • Minesweeper-style tile deduction
  • Real-time kingdom building
  • Economic simulation
  • Multiple quest paths
  • Offline play
  • Online multiplayer
  • Map editor
Features
Read full description

It starts with a grid. Then you build a kingdom. Keepsweeper mixes Minesweeper-style deduction with a living, real-time fantasy kingdom. Read the number clues. Send workers to uncover tiles. Turn a small clearing into farms, homes and defenses. Then decide whether you're ready to wake the dragon. A LITTLE KINGDOM. BIG POSSIBILITIES. Build an economy that works together. Windmills support farms. Blacksmiths equip your soldiers. Chapels keep the army fighting. Discover combinations that turn a modest settlement into something wonderfully overpowered. EVERY SQUARE HAS A STORY Hidden gold, treasure chests, goblin lairs, crypts and sleeping dragons wait beneath the grid. Explore forests, cross lakes and settle mountain country. Dig carefully. The numbers are trying to tell you something. CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE Follow four quest paths: Dragon Hunt, Royal Treasury, Reclaim the Realm and Rival Kingdoms. The full game adds two twenty-level campaigns: Into the Badlands, with ruined roads, buried archives and Ancient Gates, and Beyond the Pines, where outlaw strongholds and dragon-summoning wizards hide in the northern forests. Head into the Wilds for a larger expedition, or see how long you can survive endless Siege. A NEW REALM EVERY DAY Explore a shared Daily Realm with special objectives. Record your victories in the Realm Journal and earn Royal Seals for first completions. MAKE THE NEXT RUN YOURS Earn Royal Seals and spend them in Research. Unlock new buildings, upgrades and permanent Passives for future runs. Discover treasures that change the rules: sunbeam-firing towers, floating settlements, unlikely allies and creatures you probably shouldn't have disturbed. FRIENDS, RIVALS AND YOUR OWN WORLDS Play online with two to four players. Fight for the last Keep standing, form teams, face AI kingdoms together or hold the line in Co-op Siege. Share an invitation link and friends join your game for free. Build and play your own scenarios in the Map Editor. OLD-SCHOOL WINDOWS. LIVING PIXELS. A familiar beveled interface opens onto busy little worlds. Workers harvest. Soldiers march. Dragons breathe fire. An adaptive fantasy soundtrack follows the action. Pause solo play whenever you need a moment to think. TRY IT. KEEP IT. Play the first two levels of Dragon Hunt, Royal Treasury, Reclaim the Realm and Rival Kingdoms for free, with unlimited randomized replays. Try one Daily Realm for free, with unlimited retries of that selected realm. One optional purchase unlocks the full game, including the remaining quest levels, Into the Badlands, Beyond the Pines, Daily Realm, Wilds, Siege, hosting multiplayer games and Map Editor. Solo quests, Wilds, Siege and local custom maps can be played offline. Daily calendar updates, optional reminders, online multiplayer, community maps, purchases and restoring purchases need an internet connection. Progress is saved on your device.

Screenshots

Phantom Words4 screens
Keepsweeper4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Keepsweeper at Free against Phantom Words's $2.99. Keepsweeper also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and update cadence (daily vs every 5 days). Phantom Words's advantage is chart position (#59 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Phantom Words against 4.9 for Keepsweeper. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 27 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of Phantom Words's written reviews are positive against 92% of Keepsweeper's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Phantom Words ships an update every 5 days, Keepsweeper daily. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Phantom Words versus Keepsweeper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhantom WordsKeepsweeper
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (20 ratings)4.9 (27 ratings) — better
Positive reviews93.3% of reviews — better92.3% of reviews
Number of ratings2027 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#59 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size130 MB37 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperFleon LabsFlarup Industries

Customer experience

Phantom Words

All ratings20 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive93.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative0.0%

Keepsweeper

All ratings27 ratings
Positive96.3%
Neutral3.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive92.3%
Neutral7.7%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Phantom Words

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

Keepsweeper

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Phantom Words free?
Phantom Words costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Keepsweeper free?
Keepsweeper is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Phantom Words or Keepsweeper?
Keepsweeper is rated higher. Phantom Words averages 4.8 out of 5 from 20 ratings, while Keepsweeper averages 4.9 from 27 ratings.
Do Phantom Words or Keepsweeper have ads?
Neither Phantom Words nor Keepsweeper shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Phantom Words or Keepsweeper?
Phantom Words ships an update every 5 days, and Keepsweeper daily. Most recently, Phantom Words was updated on October 15, 2026 and Keepsweeper on October 17, 2026.

Other comparisons