Comparison

PuzzleBits vs Mahjong Nines & Solitaire

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

Head to head
About

PuzzleBits

Place colorful pieces to complete puzzles that then explode into new shapes. Enjoy hundreds of unique piece shapes and playful animations. Offers over 500 puzzles with a free hint option.

Highlights
  • Exploding puzzle mechanics
  • Hundreds of unique piece shapes
  • Over 500 puzzles
  • Playful animations and soundtrack
  • Free hint option
Features
Read full description

A whimsical puzzly thing, with bits that go boom! Place the colorful pieces in the right spots to complete a puzzle. If you succeed, the puzzle will explode into tiny bits, which then recombine into a new challenging shape! - 500+ puzzles! - Hundreds of unique, brightly colored, piece shapes. - Playful animations and soundtrack. - Free hint option.

About

Mahjong Nines & Solitaire

This app offers a collection of tile-matching puzzle games, including Classic Nines against opponents and Mahjong Solitaire with various difficulty levels. Enjoy offline play, unlock achievements, and compete globally with customizable tile themes.

Highlights
  • Classic Nines tile matching
  • Mahjong Solitaire puzzles
  • Multiple difficulty levels
  • 40+ tile themes
  • Offline play
  • Achievements and global rankings
Features
Read full description

Mahjong Nines now has 9 games in one app! Duel COM, a friend or online players in Nines, then relax with Mahjong Solitaire, Tile Connect, Triple Match, Tile Sudoku and more. Big, easy-to-read tiles, a cute sticker look and a new Today's Puzzle every day. --- 9 GAMES --- - Nines: push tiles and line up 1–9 before your rival. Play vs COM, play a friend on one device, or play an online match (random opponent or room code). Start small on the Road to Nines and unlock the full 9-column board - Mahjong Solitaire: match free pairs and clear the stack. Easy, Normal and Hard - Tile Connect: link pairs with a line of up to 2 turns - Triple Match: collect 3 of a kind in the tray - Tile Memory: flip tiles and find the pairs - Mahjong Slide: slide tiles to line up a pair - Tile Sudoku: sudoku with tiles 1–9 - Tile Sort: sort tiles into stacks of 4 - Fruit Drop: drop and merge fruits up to the watermelon --- EVERY DAY --- - Today's Puzzle: the same board for everyone. Solve it on more days each month to earn Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond badges - Weekly ranking: earn points in any game and climb the leaderboard - Daily Missions and a Daily Bonus --- COLLECT TILE THEMES --- - 95+ tile themes: animals, food, flags, space, seasons and more - Get pieces by playing, from missions and from the Daily Bonus, then add themes to your Tile Collection - Invite friends to get the exclusive Friends theme --- EASY ON THE EYES --- - Big, readable tiles and a bright, cute sticker design - Prefer the classic look? Choose "Classic look" in Settings > Board & tile look to bring back the original tiles, crisp outlines and green/blue boards in every game - Play offline (online matches and rankings need an internet connection) Also known as mahjongg or majong. --- NINES PLUS (OPTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION) --- Nines Plus is an optional auto-renewing subscription (in-app purchase), monthly or yearly: - No ads - Every tile theme, including Plus-only themes (except the invite-only Friends themes) - Always ×2 pieces - Hints, undo and shuffles without watching videos - Free mission swaps - Price: shown in the app before you buy, and may vary by country. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account when you confirm the purchase. - Auto-renewal: the subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the current period ends. - How to cancel: you can't cancel inside the app. On your device, go to Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current period; the current period is not refunded. https://support.apple.com/118428 - Restore purchases: if you subscribed before, tap "Restore purchase" at the bottom of the Nines Plus screen. - Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ - Privacy Policy: https://tomople.com/privacy_policy/

Screenshots

PuzzleBits4 screens
Mahjong Nines & Solitaire4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PuzzleBits at 95% against Mahjong Nines & Solitaire's 27%. PuzzleBits also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). Mahjong Nines & Solitaire's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (4.2K vs 131). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. PuzzleBits sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Mahjong Nines & Solitaire sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PuzzleBits holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mahjong Nines & Solitaire has 4.2K ratings behind it against 131, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 95% of PuzzleBits's written reviews are positive against 27% of Mahjong Nines & Solitaire's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PuzzleBits ships an update every 2 months, Mahjong Nines & Solitaire every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
PuzzleBits versus Mahjong Nines & Solitaire: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPuzzleBitsMahjong Nines & Solitaire
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (131 ratings) — better4.5 (4.2K ratings)
Positive reviews94.5% of reviews — better26.6% of reviews
Number of ratings1314.2K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 4 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.1 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB115 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLittle White Bear Studios, LLCtomople

Customer experience

PuzzleBits

All ratings129 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral2.3%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive94.5%
Neutral4.4%
Negative1.1%

Mahjong Nines & Solitaire

All ratings4,190 ratings
Positive85.9%
Neutral5.2%
Negative8.9%
Written reviews158 reviews
Positive26.6%
Neutral11.4%
Negative62.0%

User reviews

PuzzleBits

From 131 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🧩 Excellent spatial reasoning and puzzle design
  • 😊 Highly addictive and engaging gameplay
  • 🎨 Colorful, attractive visual design
  • 🧠 Great brain exercise and mental challenge
  • ⚡ Smooth performance with no crashes

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App freezes when requesting free hints
  • 🐛 Game freezes when receiving notifications or text messages
  • ❌ Completed puzzles disappear too quickly to review
  • ❌ Hint system wastes hints on already-placed pieces
  • ❌ No ability to skip puzzles and return later

Mahjong Nines & Solitaire

From 4.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 👍 Simple and user-friendly
  • 💡 Relaxing gameplay
  • 🎨 Visually appealing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Ads still present despite paid subscription
  • 🤖 Unfair advantage for computer player
  • 🔄 Difficulty switching tiles
  • 🚫 Inability to play with friends

Bugs and requests

PuzzleBits

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • App freezes when receiving text message notifications
  • Free hint request causes app to freeze
  • Game freezes when interruptions occur (texts, calls)
  • Hints sometimes wasted on already-placed pieces
  • Hint loss when resetting individual puzzles
Show 2 more
  • No data recovery after app deletion
  • Hint system doesn't persist properly between puzzles

Requested features

12 requests
  • Ability to save and replay completed puzzles
  • Skip puzzle feature with ability to return later
  • Puzzle review/study mode after completion
  • Check/verify feature to validate progress without hints
  • Leaderboard or scoring system for competition
Show 7 more
  • Timer feature for speed challenges
  • Cloud sync across multiple devices
  • More background music variety
  • Starting hints for new players
  • Ability to choose specific puzzles instead of random selection
  • Puzzle difficulty indicators
  • Challenge friends feature with saved boards

Mahjong Nines & Solitaire

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game freezing after winning against computer
  • Tiles not responding to user input
  • App crashing on certain devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to randomize tiles
  • Click-to-place tiles instead of drag-and-drop
  • Back button during gameplay
  • Ability to play with friends online
  • More tile design options

In-app purchases

4 purchases

PuzzleBits

One-time4
  • 10 hints$0.99
  • 100 hints$4.99
  • 500 hints$9.99
Show 1 more
  • 1,000 hints$14.99
2 purchases

Mahjong Nines & Solitaire

Subscriptions2
  • premium plan (1 month)$2.991 Month
  • premium plan (1 year)$29.991 Year

Questions

Is PuzzleBits free?
PuzzleBits is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mahjong Nines & Solitaire free?
Mahjong Nines & Solitaire is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PuzzleBits or Mahjong Nines & Solitaire?
PuzzleBits is rated higher. PuzzleBits averages 4.7 out of 5 from 131 ratings, while Mahjong Nines & Solitaire averages 4.5 from 4.2K ratings.
Do PuzzleBits or Mahjong Nines & Solitaire have ads?
Mahjong Nines & Solitaire shows ads; PuzzleBits does not.
Which is updated more often, PuzzleBits or Mahjong Nines & Solitaire?
PuzzleBits ships an update every 2 months, and Mahjong Nines & Solitaire every 4 days. Most recently, PuzzleBits was updated on October 21, 2026 and Mahjong Nines & Solitaire on October 27, 2026.

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