Puzzledrome vs Shift II
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Puzzledrome
This game challenges your mind with unique palindrome puzzles. Swipe tiles to create symmetry in rows and columns, testing your logic and speed. Offers various modes for different playstyles.
- Create palindromic rows and columns
- 303 challenging puzzles
- Arcade Mode with timer
- Free Play Mode
- Special tiles for added difficulty
- GameCenter Leaderboards
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"Puzzledrome, the infuriating and brilliant puzzler... If you're a perfectionist this game is absolutely for you, and will no doubt drive you mad in your quest for order." - PocketGamer "definitely one of the most unique “slide and match” puzzle games currently on the digital marketplace. It’s as cool as a Taco Cat" - Gamezebo "Swipe tiles and create glorious symmetry in this inventive visual puzzler." - AppSpy Featured in App Store's "Best New Games" and "What We're Playing" Make every row and column a palindrome in as few moves as possible! Challenge your mind with a game that takes thought, agility, and creative thinking to solve unique palindrome puzzles. Swap the tiles until all of the rows and columns are palindromes, in as few moves as possible. Inspired by symmetry, Sudoku and matching games, Puzzledrome takes tiled based puzzling to the next level! What’s left is right, what’s up is down… * Work your way through 303 challenging puzzles * Race against the clock in Arcade Mode * Play at your own speed in Free Play Mode * Special Tiles add difficulty as you progress * GameCenter Leaderboards palindrome (palin drōm) noun. 1.a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward, e.g., madam, racecar, tacocat, or 2002. Puzzledrome provides the perfect balance of brain teasing challenge and easy to learn puzzling for a captivating game experience you'll want to enjoy again and again. Swipe tiles around until everything lines up just right and you see a perfect palindrome where the tile sequence is the same left to right and up and down. Starting off with a single row of colorful icons, the game teaches you as you go and encourages creativity as you swipe tiles right and left, putting everything in its place. Getting progressively harder, Puzzledrome introduces unique challenges like the shape shifter, stone, and danger tiles that add difficulty to the game.
Shift II
A challenging puzzle game with three distinct modes: managing energy, maintaining streaks, or beating a timer. Upgrade and downgrade tiles to achieve high scores and compete on online leaderboards. Enjoy a meditative experience, except for the frantic mode.
- Three gameplay modes (Calm, Frantic, Tactical)
- Online leaderboards
- Tile upgrading and downgrading
- Streak management
- Timed challenges
- Color themes
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“The Hyperspatial Directive Node has been upgraded to a subdermal implant. All of its original functionality remains in place, quite literally at your fingertips. Please report any itching, spontaneous combustion or redness to your supervisor immediately.” A sequel to 2022's award nominated puzzle game for the Playdate, Shift II takes the familiar and adds all new mechanics, strategy and ways to play, and now on your phone! And sort of in color! Featuring three game play modes, The Calm tasks you with managing your energy supply, The Tactical only cares about your ability to maintain a streak, while The Frantic pits you against a thirty second countdown timer and was specifically designed for those of you who were disappointed that the original game wasn't stressful enough. Keeping up your streak count, upgrading and downgrading tiles and making the most efficient moves as possible are all critical to your high score chances. No ads and no in-app purchases. It won't even harass you to rate it (Though it would be nice if you did)! Just a super fun, meditative puzzle game. Well, except for The Frantic, that's not really very meditative. Features: - Three game play modes; The Calm, The Frantic & The Tactical - Online leader boards for all three modes. - Four color themes to choose from. - The same music and sound effects you loved in the Playdate version. - Again: No in app purchases, no ads, no tracking. -- "This sequel is as fun as the first game! Shift II adds a twist to the original, with more shapes to match and more modes. Our favorite new mode is The Tactical, where you must maintain your streak to keep playing!" -- Panic Staff Pick
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Shift II at 5.0 against Puzzledrome's 4.1. Shift II also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 67%) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 6 weeks). Puzzledrome's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $4.99) and ratings volume (15 vs 3). On ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Puzzledrome costs $1.99 and Shift II $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Shift II holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Puzzledrome has 15 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Puzzledrome's written reviews are positive against 100% of Shift II's.
Puzzledrome ships an update every 6 weeks, Shift II every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Puzzledrome | Shift II |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.1 (15 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Asinine Games Inc | Scenic Route Software |
Customer experience
Puzzledrome
Shift II
In-app purchases
Puzzledrome
No in-app purchases
Shift II
No in-app purchases









