Comparison

Picture Cross vs Pair Buddies

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

Head to head
About

Picture Cross

Engage your mind with over 12,000 nonogram puzzles. Solve logic challenges to reveal hidden pictures across various themes and difficulty levels. Enjoy classic and color modes for endless brain-teasing fun.

Highlights
  • 12,000+ nonogram puzzles
  • 80+ themed puzzle packs
  • Classic and Color modes
  • Multiple grid sizes
  • Easy to Expert skill levels
  • Reveal hidden scenes
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Solve the puzzle to paint the picture! Discover a world of over 12,000 amazing Picture Cross puzzles. ■ 80+ massive themed puzzle packs to complete ■ Classic Picture Cross and Color Picture Cross puzzles ■ Different grid sizes and skill levels from Easy to Expert ■ Complete puzzles to reveal fun-packed hidden scenes ... Download free and start your Picture Cross adventure! SUPPORT Access the Help Center at any time from the pause menu (in the top right corner of the game screen). New to Picture Cross (a.k.a. Nonograms, Hanjie, Griddlers)? We've included a quick tutorial and a player's guide to get you started. Picture Cross is free to play, but contains optional paid items to unlock content more quickly. www.picturecross.com

About

Pair Buddies

A unique sliding tile puzzle game with special tiles that alter gameplay. Choose your board size and explore four distinct game modes. Customize your visual experience with various themes and display options.

Highlights
  • Special tiles that change gameplay
  • Adjustable grid sizes (3x3 to 8x8)
  • Four game modes: Normal, Classic, Start at 1, Sprint
  • Multiple tile themes and color palettes
  • Five display options: Numbers, Emoji, Binary, etc.
  • Extensive accessibility features
  • Game Center leaderboards
Features
Read full description

Pair Buddies is a fast, fluid take on the classic sliding tile puzzle — rebuilt with a fresh twist that goes far beyond the original. Swipe to slide tiles. Match numbers to merge them. Reach higher and higher values — while rare special tiles shake up the math when you least expect it. FIVE SPECIAL TILES CHANGE EVERYTHING Most tile games spawn the same two values, over and over. Pair Buddies breaks the pattern with rare special tiles that rewrite the rules mid-game. Square (x²) — Slide it into any tile and the value explodes. A humble 8 becomes 64 in an instant. Halve (x÷2) — The antidote to an overstacked board. Shave a blocker in half and open new merge paths. Wildcard — Merges with any tile on the board. Strategic lifeline or board-clearing wild card. Blocker — Resists merging. Slide it 12 times and it crumbles. Let it sit and it blocks your paths. Hungry — Tap to have him consume the surrounding tiles and leave the next largest tile of the sum of the one's he ate. Square and Halve tiles annihilate each other on contact. Sometimes that's a crisis. Sometimes it's exactly what you needed. STRAIGHTS — A HIDDEN BONUS MOVE When three or more tiles of the same value line up after a slide, they collapse into a single tile worth their combined sum — earning bonus score and, in Sprint mode, refunding two moves. Setting up a straight mid-game is a skill in itself. YOUR BOARD, YOUR SIZE Pick a grid from 3×3 to 8×8. A 3×3 is a lightning-round puzzle with nowhere to hide. An 8×8 is a strategic slow burn where planning ahead pays off. FOUR GAME MODES Normal — unlimited play with all special tiles active Classic — pure 2048, no special mechanics Start at 1 — tiles spawn as 1; build every power-of-two from scratch Sprint — a fixed move budget with a live countdown; Straights refund moves LOTS OF TILE THEMES Three character themes replace tiles with illustrated characters: Kittens — tons of cat breeds with animated blinking eyes and surprise yawns Puppies — unique dog breeds with random tongue-lick animations Fruits & Veg — produce characters from seedling to pomegranate, each with little faces Undersea — a fun set of animated undersea creatures in individual aquariums Blossoms — beautiful flowers represented with simple line art Cosmos — our planets, moons, and wonders beyond Plus nine classic color palettes, three accessibility-focused palettes (Deuteranopia, Tritanopia, High Contrast), and a 21-color Classic palette that laps the spectrum as you push past 2048. FIVE WAYS TO SEE THE BOARD Numbers, No Label (color only), Emoji, Exponent, or Binary. Play whichever way clicks for you. GAME CENTER LEADERBOARDS See where your score ranks against other players and show of your highest unlocked tile! BUILT FOR EVERYONE Full VoiceOver support with board labels, special-tile descriptions, and custom Move actions so you can play without touching the screen. Switch Control, Voice Control, Dynamic Type, Reduce Motion, colorblind-safe palettes, High Contrast mode, Differentiate Without Color cues, and adjustable haptic feedback — every accessibility feature iOS offers, supported. THE DETAILS THAT MATTER * Up to three undo charges per game, refilled by milestone merges * Milestone animations: new personal-best tiles zoom to center and burst with particles * First-encounter tips for every special tile type — shown once, resettable in Settings * Full game history with final-board snapshots and a score trends chart * Adjustable difficulty with separate high-score rankings per level * Custom background color with separate light and dark values * No ads. No in-app purchases. No timers. No lives. No artificial pressure. The original stops at 2048. Pair Buddies is just getting started.

Screenshots

Picture Cross4 screens
Pair Buddies4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pair Buddies at 100% against Picture Cross's 45%. Pair Buddies also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). Picture Cross's advantage is price (Free vs $0.99) and ratings volume (75K vs 3). On 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

Picture Cross is free to download; Pair Buddies costs $0.99 up front. Picture Cross sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Pair Buddies asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pair Buddies holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Picture Cross has 75K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 45% of Picture Cross's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pair Buddies's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Picture Cross ships an update every 2 months, Pair Buddies every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard10 real differences · 1 level
Picture Cross versus Pair Buddies: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPicture CrossPair Buddies
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.6 (75K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews45.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings75K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#119 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size652 MB10 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperAppyNation Ltd.Typewritten Code LLC

Customer experience

Picture Cross

All ratings74,588 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral5.0%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews1,021 reviews
Positive45.2%
Neutral15.2%
Negative39.6%

Pair Buddies

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Picture Cross

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Tokens not awarded for completing surveys
  • Puzzle progress reset unexpectedly
  • Tournament rewards not received
  • Redirected to scam websites from game

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to use coins to buy tokens
  • More frequent token rewards
  • Zoom functionality
  • Undo button
  • Continuous daily reward progression

Pair Buddies

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Picture Cross

One-time10
  • Coins Starter Pack$0.99
  • Tokens Starter Pack$0.99
  • Tokens Booster Pack$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Piggy Bank$2.99
  • Endless Treasure Small Bundle$2.99
  • Coins Super Pack$4.99
  • Tokens Super Pack$4.99
  • Coins Mega Pack$9.99
  • Tokens Mega Pack$9.99
  • Event Pass$9.99
None

Pair Buddies

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Picture Cross free?
Picture Cross is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pair Buddies free?
Pair Buddies costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Picture Cross or Pair Buddies?
Pair Buddies is rated higher. Picture Cross averages 4.6 out of 5 from 75K ratings, while Pair Buddies averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Picture Cross or Pair Buddies have ads?
Picture Cross shows ads; Pair Buddies does not.
Which is updated more often, Picture Cross or Pair Buddies?
Picture Cross ships an update every 2 months, and Pair Buddies every 3 weeks. Most recently, Picture Cross was updated on November 9, 2026 and Pair Buddies on November 5, 2026.

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