Comparison

Cross Fix vs Slatework

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

Head to head
About

Cross Fix

Features
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Someone completed the crossword. They got every single word wrong. Your job is to Fix it. Cross Fix is a crossword with the answers already in place and every one of them scrambled. There is no typing and no empty squares to stare at. You drag letters around the grid until the words fall into place. When a word is right it turns green and locks, and you move on. Here is what makes it different. Every letter you need is already on the board. You can never be stuck on a word you have never heard of. If a clue means nothing to you, you can still solve it by moving letters and watching what fits. HOW IT WORKS Drag any letter onto another to swap the two. Correct words turn green and lock in place. Tap Clues whenever you want a nudge. One good swap can finish two words at once. A DAILY PUZZLE A fresh board every day, the same one for everybody. Build a streak, collect your daily coins, and share a picture of your finished grid. HUNDREDS OF LEVELS Every board is a different shape and size. The grids never grow, but the clues get sharper. Every word in the game has two clues, a plain one and a cryptic one, and the later levels lean on the cryptic ones. PLAY YOUR WAY No timer and nothing chasing you. Each board has a par score if you want the challenge, and hints if you would rather take it easy. Big clear letters, simple controls, and no clutter. Made to be easy to read and easy on the hands.

About

Slatework

Features
Read full description

Slatework is a collection of thirteen classic logic puzzles. It opens on a grid, works with no signal, and asks you for nothing: no account, no ads, no subscription. Every board is generated on your device the moment you ask for it, and checked by a solver before you see it. Each one has exactly one answer, reachable by logic alone — no guessing at any difficulty, and no pack of puzzles to run out of. Thirteen types • Killer Sudoku — sudoku with cages that have to add up • Kakuro (Cross Sums) — a crossword written in numbers • Hashi (Bridges, Hashiwokakero) — join the islands into one network • Slitherlink (Loop the Loop) — one closed loop, drawn from the clues • Futoshiki — a Latin square with greater-than signs across it • Binairo (Takuzu, binary puzzle) — zeros and ones, never three in a row • Nurikabe (Islands and Walls) — islands of the right size, in one sea • Shikaku (Rectangles) — cut the grid into rectangles that match a number • Akari (Light Up) — light every square, and no lamp in another lamp's line • Masyu (Pearls) — a loop that turns on black pearls and runs through white ones • Norinori — one domino in every room • Heyawake — shaded rooms, and no white line running through more than two • Yajilin — a loop and a shading, on the same board Every type has a walkthrough that teaches its rules on a real board, and a rules card to open mid-board. The board • Drag to draw a line, drag to paint a wall — never one tap per segment • Pencil marks, cleared from the row and column for you if you want them • Undo and redo as far back as you like; every move saved as you make it • Mistakes shown your way: off, on Check, or as you make them. Nothing ever ends a puzzle • Pinch to zoom on the big grids, and a left-handed layout for the keypad • A colour-blind palette in which nothing is carried by colour alone • Grids from 4Ɨ4 to 20Ɨ20, and tiers named for the reasoning they need Hints that explain themselves A hint is the next real deduction the solver would make, written out in a sentence with the squares it is about lit up. Look, then the reason, then the move — never a revealed answer, and never something you could not have worked out. A puzzle a day One daily puzzle in every type, every day, at every difficulty. Your streak is counted quietly and never nagged about. A reminder is there if you want one, and it is an alarm on this device: nothing leaves it to make that happen. Made to be looked at Six board palettes, from warm paper through to full-contrast black on white. Thirteen drawn marks, one per type. A finished board reports your time and your previous best, and then stops: no confetti, no coins, no levels. Your progress, and your file Statistics per type, per size and per difficulty, with charts that answer whether you are getting faster, and a month view of everything you have solved. One backup file holds every puzzle, game, statistic and setting and reads back on any device — there is no account and no cloud copy, because there is no server anywhere in this app. One purchase, not a subscription Every puzzle type, every daily puzzle at every difficulty, and unlimited puzzles are free, and always will be. The unlock adds the rest: every grid size up to 20Ɨ20, the Hard and Expert tiers on every type, unlimited hints, all six themes, the whole daily archive, and the charts behind your times. One payment, held by your Apple Account and restored with one button on any device you sign into, including every puzzle type added after it. What this app will never do No ads. Not on opening, not between boards, not in exchange for a hint. No subscription, no coins, no energy, no lives. No account and no sign-in. Nothing that needs a network — puzzles are made on this device and your progress never leaves it. And nothing that ships free is ever moved behind the price. For anyone who does the puzzle page first: cross sums, bridges, loop the loop, binary puzzles, and the Japanese pencil puzzles that never got a good app.

Screenshots

Cross Fix4 screens
Slatework4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Slatework at none against Cross Fix's shown. Slatework also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Cross Fix sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Slatework sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 4 level
Cross Fix versus Slatework: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCross FixSlatework
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developeradam roganRehan Shaikh

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Cross Fix

One-time1
  • Unlock Full Game$1.99
1 purchases

Slatework

One-time1
  • Unlock Everything$4.99

Questions

Is Cross Fix free?
Cross Fix is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Slatework free?
Slatework is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Cross Fix or Slatework have ads?
Cross Fix shows ads; Slatework does not.

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