Comparison

Word Puddle vs Squircle Shift

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

Head to head
About

Word Puddle

Features
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Word Puddle is a cozy word game for kids that grows a living watershed as they play. Drag across the letter puddle to spell words, fill the crossword, and watch ponds, creeks, and marshes bloom to life with every level. Made by a dad for his own kids. No ads, ever. Never pay to win. SPELL AND GROW Every finished level grows the world behind the game. Rain pools into a first puddle, the puddle becomes a pond, herons arrive, and ten watery habitats fill in one by one. Kids can always see what they will grow next. FIND BONUS WORDS Extra words are never wrong answers. Each one is a reward: it drops a droplet into the Puddle Meter, and when the puddle splashes, a new Puddle Pal surfaces to live in the scene. COLLECT AND CUSTOMIZE Earn coins by playing, then spend them on puddle styles, trace effects, tile colors, and celebrations. Collect stickers by discovering their words. You never need to buy anything to enjoy the whole game. FIVE WORLDS, ONE FAMILY With over 4,000 levels across five worlds: - Sprout: first words, short and sweet - Explorer: bigger words for word detectives - Champion: tricky puzzles for super spellers - Grown-Up: the full challenge - Sesquipedalian: eight-letter wheels for word champions Grown-ups get a real word game too, so the whole family can play the same app. KIND BY DESIGN - No ads, no tracking, nothing leaves your device - Hints are free and refill every level - No timers, no failure, no pressure - Words are spoken aloud so early readers connect spelling to sound - VoiceOver, Reduce Motion, and haptics settings supported FOR PARENTS Word Puddle collects no personal data. Optional purchases (a cosmetic pack and convenience coins) exist to support the developer and sit behind a parental gate. They are never required to play or win. The full privacy policy is available inside the app and at frazerdesignco.com. Come grow your puddle. The water is warm!

About

Squircle Shift

Features
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A tranquil, minimalist spatial phenomenon where out-of-the-box thinking and precise color frame alignments offer total mental clarity. Escape noisy, over-stimulating games and discover true mental calm! Designed for thinkers seeking refined simplicity, this aesthetic puzzle experience invites you to slide rounded squares (squircles) into matching colored frames. While the rules are deceptively easy, solving these handcrafted challenges demands genuine creative intuition and lateral thinking—where a single brilliant move can unlock solutions you've contemplated for days! Enhanced by a subtle visual aesthetic, soothing ambient music, and intuitive one-handed controls, enjoy a peaceful sanctuary featuring 48 initial handcrafted levels, a smooth puzzle previewer, and a powerful undo mechanism.

Screenshots

Word Puddle4 screens
Squircle Shift4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Squircle Shift at none against Word Puddle's 4. Squircle Shift also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). Word Puddle's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price and device support 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. Word Puddle sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Squircle Shift asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences · 2 level
Word Puddle versus Squircle Shift: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWord PuddleSquircle Shift
PriceFreeFree
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB104 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLANCE LAMONT FRAZERMong Xuan Luong Hoang

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Word Puddle

One-time4
  • Aurora Pack$1.99
  • 500 Coins$2.99
  • 1000 Coins$4.99
Show 1 more
  • 5000 Coins$9.99
None

Squircle Shift

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Word Puddle free?
Word Puddle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Squircle Shift free?
Squircle Shift is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Word Puddle or Squircle Shift have ads?
Squircle Shift shows ads; Word Puddle does not.

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