Aki vs Retrogram
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Aki
Learn Māori vocabulary and phrases through engaging levels and challenges. Navigate through a waka, avoid obstacles, and master new words. Compete with friends and track your progress.
- Vocabulary and phrase learning
- Gamified levels and challenges
- Progress tracking
- Multiplayer challenges
- Leaderboards
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Aki - A Māori language vocabulary and phrase learning App. Paddle your waka and escape the taniwha by learning and identifying words and phrases. Finish one level with six dots, then start the next level with a whole new set of words. Once you’ve completed all four levels, play them again and challenge yourself to complete the levels in the quickest time possible with the fewest mistakes. Challenge your friends and family to play and compare their progress and achievements through Game Center.
Retrogram
Challenge your vocabulary with a daily word puzzle. Create as many words as possible from seven letters. Enjoy a stylish, retro-themed experience designed to sharpen your mind and introduce you to new words.
- Daily hand-made puzzles
- Solve puzzles together via SharePlay
- Apple Watch compatibility
- No ads
- Discover new words
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Think you’re a word nerd? Put your vocabulary to the test with new word puzzles every day Retrogram is a love letter to the 1970s — a cozy collection of handcrafted word games, curious words and satisfying puzzles to make part of your daily routine PLAY EVERY DAY SPELLOTRON Make as many words as you can using seven letters. Find the pangram, climb the ranks and discover interesting stories behind some of your favorite words WORDWAY Build a bridge of words from one word to another. Use the letters you’re given and find a path across the board THERE’S MORE Subscribe to Retrogram to catch up on the past week of daily puzzles, explore the Puzzle Vault, play limited-edition bonus packs, switch things up with vintage app icons, and play after dark with Neon Nites FEATURES * Two handcrafted word puzzles every day * Play today’s Spellotron and Wordway puzzles for free * Catch up on the past seven days * A growing Vault of bonus puzzles * Limited-edition puzzle packs * Neon Nites dark theme * Vintage alternate app icons * SharePlay — solve together over FaceTime * Play Spellotron on your Apple Watch * No ads, ever Additional details Privacy policy: https://retrogram.app/#privacy Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Aki at 5.0 against Retrogram's 4.4. Aki also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and review sentiment (78% vs 66%). Retrogram's advantage is ratings volume (320 vs 2) and device support (4 vs 2). On price 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
Both are free to download. Retrogram sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Aki asks for nothing beyond the download.
Aki holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Retrogram has 320 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Aki's written reviews are positive against 66% of Retrogram's.
| Parameter | Aki | Retrogram |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 4.4 (320 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better | 66.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 320 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 6.1 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 83 MB | 145 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | University of Otago | in Color |
Customer experience
Aki
Retrogram
Bugs and requests
Aki
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Retrogram
Reported bugs
7 issues- Words marked as missed that were actually found
- Puzzle letters changing when spinning the wheel
- Apple Watch app no longer functioning
- Game progress deletion without explanation
- Inconsistent word acceptance across different puzzles
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- Hint feature disappeared in recent updates
- Contact support only available through Apple Mail
Requested features
10 requests- Access to previous/archived puzzles
- Multiple puzzles per day or puzzle difficulty levels
- Statistics tracking (completion rate, pangram frequency)
- Hint system that doesn't impact streak
- Word find rate percentages for context
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- Immediate answer reveal after puzzle completion
- Cheaper one-time purchase option instead of subscription
- In-game dispute method for word validation
- Apple Watch functionality restoration
- Automatic daily prefix posting on social media
In-app purchases
Aki
No in-app purchases
Retrogram
- Daily Puzzle (Monthly)$4.991 Month
- Daily Puzzle (Yearly)$29.991 Year
- Where in the World$3.99
- 80s Dinner Party$4.99
- Gaming Icons$4.99
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- Stone Cold$4.99
- Flower Power$4.99
- Dear Reader$4.99
- Outer Rim$4.99
- Daily Puzzle (For Life)$49.99









