Comparison

Zero+ vs Match Mates

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

Head to head
About

Zero+

This is a fun and challenging iOS puzzle game where players combine numbered blocks to create zeros. Swipe blocks to merge them and solve increasingly complex levels. Enjoy a vast number of stages with unique block types.

Highlights
  • Swipe blocks to merge
  • Combine positive and negative numbers
  • Create all zeros
  • 120+ levels
  • New block types
Features
Read full description

A simple iOS puzzle game that is devilishly fun to play. Just add positive and negative numbered blocks to one another to make all zeros. • Easy to play: swipe blocks left, right, up, or down • Lots to do: 120 levels and counting... • Never the same: new levels bring new kinds of blocks

About

Match Mates

Engage in a storybook match-3 roguelike where strategic tile pops trigger explosive chain reactions. Build powerful combos with over 100 unique perks and evolve colors to overcome challenging campaign waves and endless modes. Explore six distinct worlds, each with its own rules and enemies.

Highlights
  • Strategic match-3 gameplay
  • Chain reaction mechanics
  • Over 100 unique perks
  • Color evolution system
  • 78 campaign waves
  • Endless mode (The Descent)
  • Daily runs
Features
Read full description

Match Mates is free. No ads, no paywalls, no data selling — every world and every mode, yours. If you enjoy it and want to support the dev team, there's a small tip jar in the menu, and our other games are one tap away. Match the Mates. Calm the Grumble. Bring the world back to color. A creeping gray mood called the Grumble has separated the Mates and drained six storybook worlds. Match the little characters so they can combine their gifts, protect each world's light, calm the creatures in their path, and turn every page bright again. Cozy at rest. Fireworks when you pop. Every pop makes a promise and leaves a receipt: pick a group, see what it will do — the damage, the heal, the front attack it cancels — then watch the Mates leap into action and the world answer. Calmed creatures shake off the Grumble, remember their manners, and settle into your Zen Garden. TWO HONEST PATHS Storybook is the on-ramp: six hearts, kinder skies on a first journey, a bookmark after every boss, and the full story payoff. Classic keeps the four-heart, full-run roguelike challenge and records. Bramble Ranks 2-5 wait beyond it. BUILD A COMBO THAT FEELS A LITTLE BROKEN Choose a perk pack and draft from more than 100 run-warping perks. Evolve all six colors into powerful new forms, discover dual-color Alloys as the Mates learn to work together, and assemble a build that can freeze a queue, fill the board with bombs, mint a fortune, or set off a cascade you never planned. A lone Mate can fire a Signal Flare to call the traveling Pop Shop mid-fight — spend the pop, scorch the space, and buy the missing piece. Or save your coins for interest and protect the engine you already built. SIX STORYBOOK WORLDS WITH TEETH Fight through 78 campaign waves, more than 70 monsters, and 19 boss encounters. Every world is a place with a problem — relight the Seedlamp, free the Tide Bell, thaw the Hearthfire — and every world visibly returns to color as you calm it, from the overgrown Grumble Garden to the hungry dark of the Undervoid. PLAY YOUR WAY • Continue after a victory in The Descent, an endless mode with procedural waves, enemy affixes, gifts, reserve bosses, and per-world records. • Return for a seeded Daily Run. • Climb five Bramble Ranks in every world. • Discover monsters, perks, and evolutions in the Popdex. • Visit the Zen Garden, where the creatures you calm come to rest. Match Mates is a free single-player game. No ads. No paywalls. No account required. The only in-app purchases are optional tips in the Support Us menu — they unlock nothing, and every world and mode is yours either way.

Screenshots

Zero+4 screens
Match Mates4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Zero+ at 4.8 against Match Mates's 4.0. Zero+ also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (178 vs 3). Match Mates's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly). On price, review sentiment, ads 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. Match Mates sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Zero+ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Zero+ holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zero+ has 178 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 97% of Zero+'s written reviews are positive against 100% of Match Mates's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zero+ ships an update monthly, Match Mates every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Zero+ versus Match Mates: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZero+Match Mates
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (178 ratings) — better4.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews96.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings178 — better3
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB149 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperSaturnBoy, LLCMotivation Stack LLC

Customer experience

Zero+

All ratings177 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral3.4%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews115 reviews
Positive96.5%
Neutral2.6%
Negative0.9%

Match Mates

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Zero+

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Screen grays out when undoing moves too quickly
  • Tiles occasionally unresponsive to input
  • App freezes requiring restart
  • Background music/podcasts get blocked during gameplay

Requested features

7 requests
  • More levels or additional puzzle packs
  • Hints system for difficult puzzles
  • Updated and more modern visual design
  • Allow background music while playing
  • Skip level feature (some users noted this exists)
Show 2 more
  • User-generated challenges or community puzzles
  • Higher difficulty levels

Match Mates

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Zero+

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Match Mates

One-time3
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Nice Tip$2.99
  • Huge Tip$4.99

Questions

Is Zero+ free?
Zero+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Match Mates free?
Match Mates is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Zero+ or Match Mates?
Zero+ is rated higher. Zero+ averages 4.8 out of 5 from 178 ratings, while Match Mates averages 4.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Zero+ or Match Mates have ads?
Neither Zero+ nor Match Mates shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zero+ or Match Mates?
Zero+ ships an update monthly, and Match Mates every 3 days. Most recently, Zero+ was updated on October 24, 2026 and Match Mates on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons