Comparison

Hex Jewels™ vs Close Cities

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

Head to head
About

Hex Jewels™

This is a free puzzle game where you group five or more identical jewels to clear them from the board. Plan your moves carefully as new jewels grow after each turn. Clear the target number of jewels before the board fills to win.

Highlights
  • Group five or more identical jewels
  • Clear target number of jewels
  • Endless levels
  • No timer for relaxed play
  • High score leaderboards
  • Automatic progress saving
Read full description

100% FREE! DOWNLOAD NOW and start having fun! Take your time planning the best moves in this relaxing yet challenging puzzle game! • Make groups of five or more identical Jewels to clear them from the board. • After each move, more Jewels start to grow on the board. • Clear the target number of Jewels before the board fills up to win! • Endless levels to challenge you! • No timer, so you can take your time and relax • Beautiful graphics! • Intuitive touch controls! • Compete against your friends and against everyone worldwide for the highest scores on Game Center • Your progress is automatically saved, all the time, so go ahead and take that call or jump out to any other apps - you can come back and pick up playing right where you left off! • Sounds can be disabled if you want a quiet game • You can even listen to your own music while you play Thanks for playing! Search for "Boy Howdy" to see all our free games! HEX JEWELS is a trademark of Boy Howdy Technology LLC

About

Close Cities

Build beautiful cities on diverse worlds by solving unique puzzles. This relaxing game guides you through 160 levels with a simple tap or drag interface, requiring no architectural knowledge. Conquer each world's challenges and travel through time with its calming soundtrack.

Highlights
  • Build cities on empty maps
  • Solve 160 unique puzzle levels
  • Intuitive tap and drag controls
  • No architectural knowledge needed
  • Travel through different worlds
  • Relaxing music and pace
Features
Read full description

Close Cities is a relaxing logic puzzle: build cities along the roads and give every road exactly the cities it needs. Easy to learn, hard to put down. HOW TO PLAY • The number next to each road shows how many cities it needs. • Every city must touch a road, and it can't be on two roads at once. • Cities can't touch side by side; diagonally is fine. • Tap or drag to build. When a city is valid, it lights up in color. 480 LEVELS, TWO MODES • Kingdoms: travel through different eras of history and build each king's empire. • Empires: cities of different sizes and roads that ask for new combinations. AT YOUR OWN PACE • No timer, no rush: think every move through calmly. • Relaxing music and a clean, charming art style. • Play offline: on the subway, while traveling or before bed. • Stuck? Ask for a hint. FOR EVERYONE • A quick tutorial teaches you the rules in a minute. • If you like sudoku and logic puzzles, you'll love it. • Free, with a one-time purchase to remove ads. Close Cities is made by The Pangry, the creators of Broki.

Screenshots

Hex Jewels™3 screens
Close Cities4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hex Jewels™ at none against Close Cities's 4. Hex Jewels™ also leads on review sentiment (95% vs 69%) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Close Cities's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months). On price, rating, ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Close Cities sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Hex Jewels™ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Hex Jewels™ against 4.8 for Close Cities. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 404 and 365 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Hex Jewels™'s written reviews are positive against 69% of Close Cities's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hex Jewels™ ships an update every 5 months, Close Cities monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Hex Jewels™ versus Close Cities: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHex Jewels™Close Cities
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (404 ratings)4.8 (365 ratings) — better
Positive reviews94.8% of reviews — better69.4% of reviews
Number of ratings404 — better365
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size59 MB165 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBoy Howdy Technology LLCJuan Manuel Altamirano Argudo

Customer experience

Hex Jewels™

All ratings393 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral3.6%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive94.8%
Neutral3.9%
Negative1.3%

Close Cities

All ratings365 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive69.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative30.6%

Bugs and requests

Hex Jewels™

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Progress not saved after closing app or inactivity
  • Game resets to level 1 unexpectedly
  • Point counter fails to credit valid moves
  • Bombs trigger too frequently at high levels

Requested features

7 requests
  • Sound toggle within app settings
  • Hint button for stuck players
  • Back button for undoing moves
  • Achievement milestones and progression badges
  • Ability to clear entire board
Show 2 more
  • Better save/progress persistence
  • Kindle Fire HD version

Close Cities

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Hex Jewels™

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Close Cities

One-time4
  • Hints - Small Pack$0.99
  • Hints - Medium Pack$2.99
  • Remove Ads + Hints$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Hints - Big Pack$5.99

Questions

Is Hex Jewels™ free?
Hex Jewels™ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Close Cities free?
Close Cities is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hex Jewels™ or Close Cities?
Close Cities is rated higher. Hex Jewels™ averages 4.8 out of 5 from 404 ratings, while Close Cities averages 4.8 from 365 ratings.
Do Hex Jewels™ or Close Cities have ads?
Both Hex Jewels™ and Close Cities show ads.
Which is updated more often, Hex Jewels™ or Close Cities?
Hex Jewels™ ships an update every 5 months, and Close Cities monthly. Most recently, Hex Jewels™ was updated on November 1, 2026 and Close Cities on November 4, 2026.

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