Review Insights · App Store
Crossword Explorer
PlaySimple Games Pte Ltd · 58,603 ratings · ★ 4.9
4.9
★★★★★
58,603 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 59 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"game"
25 negative reviews mention this · 42% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Used to be great. I really enjoyed this game, but the ads are killing it. It’s become very laggy, so I looked at network and system stats, now I’m concerned it’s collecting data and sending to a server. I’m concerned enough that I’m deleting the app." - zizbuka
2
"play"
12 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ad free purchase deceitful. Don’t download.. I purchased the ad free option but I still get ads. In fact I don’t see any difference. After playing a couple of games, you still have to watch an ad to continue. I wrote them and they stated it doesn’t remove all ads. I have requested a r…" - Momlet1
3
"playing"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ad free purchase deceitful. Don’t download.. I purchased the ad free option but I still get ads. In fact I don’t see any difference. After playing a couple of games, you still have to watch an ad to continue. I wrote them and they stated it doesn’t remove all ads. I have requested a r…" - Momlet1
4
"every"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Glitching. It keeps opening my google every 1-3 minutes with tabs that say this site can’t be reached" - Derecho2020
5
"puzzle"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Kind of shady. Every once in a while it will change letters to force you to not complete the puzzles. It's a shady way to make you spend coins or real money." - Gaithan01
6
"free"
7 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ad free purchase deceitful. Don’t download.. I purchased the ad free option but I still get ads. In fact I don’t see any difference. After playing a couple of games, you still have to watch an ad to continue. I wrote them and they stated it doesn’t remove all ads. I have requested a r…" - Momlet1
7
"games"
7 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ad free purchase deceitful. Don’t download.. I purchased the ad free option but I still get ads. In fact I don’t see any difference. After playing a couple of games, you still have to watch an ad to continue. I wrote them and they stated it doesn’t remove all ads. I have requested a r…" - Momlet1
8
"through"
6 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "ADS ADS ADS. The ads alone will make you never want to play. They aren’t the kind you can just click through either. Uninstall, trash!" - Jandro707
9
"long"
6 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ads are out of control!. I’m done with this app. I get that you include ads and want us to purchase the game to eliminate the ads. But your ads are out of control. I’ve never seen ads last this long in an app. And then when I’m able to get past an ad, a new one pop…" - tonypct
10
"puzzles"
6 negative reviews mention this · 10% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Kind of shady. Every once in a while it will change letters to force you to not complete the puzzles. It's a shady way to make you spend coins or real money." - Gaithan01
📋 All 59 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Used to be great
I really enjoyed this game, but the ads are killing it. It’s become very laggy, so I looked at network and system stats, now I’m concerned it’s collecting data and sending to a server. I’m concerned enough that I’m deleting the app.
Waste of time
Would nor work at all on my iPad.
Ad free purchase deceitful. Don’t download.
I purchased the ad free option but I still get ads. In fact I don’t see any difference. After playing a couple of games, you still have to watch an ad to continue. I wrote them and they stated it doesn’t remove all ads. I have requested a refund, which I’m sure I won’t get. Don’t waste your money.
ADS ADS ADS
The ads alone will make you never want to play. They aren’t the kind you can just click through either. Uninstall, trash!
Not ad free when you pay
Oh my lanta!!! I just want to play the game! I loathe being interrupted!!! I’m a teacher, I just want to get through something and not have to be interrupted 7 times over!! $30 a year!! A YEAR!!! I don’t pay that much for an app that can tell me every plant on the face of this earth!!! Enough with the advertisements. You “claim” “ad free” for $30!!! STOP WITH THE ADS AND INTERRUPTIONS or give me my money back!!! Fix. It. Please.
Also…why do you repeat soooo often! Sty! Adore! Estee!! I play another word game and they do the same thing!!! Either be creative or cut down the levels. Sooo much out there, think outside the box!!
BSA - organization for young lads… Boy Scouts of AMERICA…they aren’t called lads!!
Also…why do you repeat soooo often! Sty! Adore! Estee!! I play another word game and they do the same thing!!! Either be creative or cut down the levels. Sooo much out there, think outside the box!!
BSA - organization for young lads… Boy Scouts of AMERICA…they aren’t called lads!!
Tease with additional coins
The game offers additional coins after playing but the majority of the time if you try to hit the button to claim the coins it gets covered by an ad banner and quickly goes away. Frustrating!
Flat out lie
The ad said no annoying ads. Well there are annoying ads with every play. The game itself self is great. But seriously …
Impossible to play
While playing, the app has a life of its own and opens your browser to ads at random times. The game also makes your phone get very hot!
Needs improvement
App is slow to respond and freezes
Ads render useless
Game is good until it tries to get you to download another game with no way to bypass the ad
Misspell
Really tacky when the answer is emend for the word amend
Ads are out of control!
I’m done with this app. I get that you include ads and want us to purchase the game to eliminate the ads. But your ads are out of control. I’ve never seen ads last this long in an app. And then when I’m able to get past an ad, a new one pops up! Don’t have the time to waste waiting for ads to play through. Right after I post this, I am deleting the game. Do better!
Points
Very stingy when trying to earn points
I hate ads
The ad I happened to see in another game for this one said it had absolutely no ads… so does royal match… not
Absolutely no customer service
I have repeatedly sent emails to the developer using the address they call their help line. They have never responded.
SO VERY VERY ANNOYING
Thought I would like this game BUT the ads are unbelievably ridiculous, so no thank you. You can keep it. Would give it no stars if I could.
TOO MANY ADS!!!
I like the game, but deleted the app because of the non stop ads. That totally ruined the game.
Extremely slow
Worst lag I’ve ever seen in a game. But you can’t report it as a problem on here, their website, or anywhere else. It’s really sad. Won’t be playing again until it’s fixed.
Slows & Overheats devices
Sleazy ads open other apps including TikTok without permission
Overheats ipad and drains battery
Same with iphone I deleted it.
Overheats ipad and drains battery
Same with iphone I deleted it.
Disappointing ad-free lie
I just paid $30 to go ad-free for a year and the next thing I see is an ad. Now I have seen several ads in just 1/2 hour so clearly I wasted my money. Don’t bother paying for the ad-free option. It is a bait and switch.
Too many ads
So many ads between each quick round. There has to be a better way.
Scam
I purchased for $29.99 the NO ADS ! Did NOT get it evidently…I’m STILL-getting ads! PLEASE GIVE ME WHAT I PAID FOR!!
Way too many ads
This would be fun if there weren’t so many ads that take way to long!! Annoying!
No Way!
AFTER READING THINGS I HAVE TO AGREE TO THAT ONLY ATTORNEY UNDERSTANDS. I am sorry, but I will “NOt” agree to things I don’t understand…
Sucks
Sucks, constantly crashes , over and over, lasts about 15 seconds and shuts off and goes to Home Screen
Disappointed and uninstalling
I initially downloaded this app because I enjoy crossword puzzles, but the experience quickly went downhill. The ads are excessive and intrusive, which already made it frustrating to use. What ultimately made me stop playing and delete the app altogether, though, was how obvious it became that the puzzle content reflects a strong left leaning political bias. I play games to relax and unplug, not to be exposed to one sided political viewpoints. Puzzles should be neutral and inclusive, and this app missed that mark.
Ads
$30 a year to remove ads? Kick rocks, finding a new game.
Lag
This is the only crossword game I have a problem with. It lags, takes too long to load. Today was really bad , I’d type and nothing happened so I left and came back about 10 minutes later and it had finally typed the letters three times.
Too many ads
It only lets me play one game a day. I turn off games that have ads and this game goes to ads right after the first game of the day so I stop playing. Still looking for an Ad free game
Extortionist
This app kills you with ads! And if you want to remove them, dig deep. Maybe the developers think this is a money machine. I don’t know. After virtually every puzzle, you’re forced to watch an ad. And they’re not short! It’s a fun app but not that much fun. I’ve deleted it. Btw, they have other variants so beware.
NO ADS IS A FRAUD
I paid the ridiculous amount of $29.99 to get no ads. I normally wouldn’t pay even half of that, but I loved the game but was so sick of so many LONG ads. Paid it, got charged for it, but now I’m STILL GETTING ADS. I’ve sent 2-3 messages to their customer service, first asking what the heck, then lastly to just reimburse me if they weren’t going to bother to honor my purchase. Have I heard back from anyone? NO, I have not. It’s been almost 2 weeks, so it’s not like I’m expecting a response in 24 hours. My only recourse was to come on here to complain. Hopefully this catches someone’s attention. Either reimburse me or remove my ads. Please don’t make me file a formal complaint.
Crossword Explorer
If you like to sit and watch more ads than play your going to love this. So sick of watching the same ads. You can't get through a puzzle with lots of ads. It freezes a lot. Such a disappointment. Other games out there without ads.
Crash alert
It’s been consistently crashing every few seconds.
Game keeps closing
Every time the game is over or you try to skip a word, it closes down & I have to open it back up again.
Disappointed
I absolutely loved this game. I’m actually sad that I had to delete it. My main issues are there is no support for the game and it just recently keeps crashing and it won’t let me play at all. The game just keeps closing out on me.
BTW That’s NOT Miami Vice smh
That is NOT TUBBS or Don Johnson 🙄
Too much woke propaganda. Deleted.
I was really enjoying this game until I noticed the recurring woke nonsense.
The “God” part is a turn off
With no other context, they put phony names as “God”. Like it’s actually real.
Hack Source
The Game is quite simple and fun but had issues with unclicked and unwanted screens popping up during the game. Reported to the help desk and was never answered or corrected. Had 2 accounts breached that had to be reset and removed this app… no future incidents ☹️
Constantly freezes
It is extremely frustrating to work on a puzzle and have it freeze up.
This happens constantly
I would never recommend this app.
This happens constantly
I would never recommend this app.
Pop ups of possible virus
I was really enjoying this game. But out of nowhere a few weeks ago, as I’m playing it just randomly jumps to safari and a “virus scan” starts. I’m not risky my phone and all my personal data for a game. So I am deleting it right now.
BEWARE !
One of the pop-ups on this game will make it look like you downloaded a virus and you get a “click here to clean” button. Looks VERY sketchy!
This is the ONLY game I have that does this…. My iPad is clean because I have a very strong anti-virus that is always on so…. Guess where this scam game is going !!!!!!!!
This is the ONLY game I have that does this…. My iPad is clean because I have a very strong anti-virus that is always on so…. Guess where this scam game is going !!!!!!!!
Ads ads ads
They reward you completing puzzles with ads. Can’t stand it. They also want you to pay $30 a month to be ad free smh. Scam artist and hustlers!!!
Glitching
It keeps opening my google every 1-3 minutes with tabs that say this site can’t be reached
Keeps opening Safari
The app will keep opening Safari and the link it tries to open is no good. Plus when it isn’t doing this there are way too many ads, it’s ridiculous.
Ridiculous
Honestly the game is really fun and I would love to keep playing it. But the ads are absolutely ridiculous!!! There is literally another ad every 30 seconds it feels like. Way too much, none of my other games do that. Sadly I will delete this one now because of it. You spend more time watching ads than actually playing.
New ad-free version
I have had this app for years and have loved it, but I’m now being asked to purchase the ad free version and I’m having a ton of ads pop up all the time. Why the change???
I will be finding a new app. 🤬
I will be finding a new app. 🤬
Update bugs
Since the last update, the weekly optional games never load. I call it the Sunday special because it “renews” each Sunday.
Kind of shady
Every once in a while it will change letters to force you to not complete the puzzles. It's a shady way to make you spend coins or real money.
App purchase
I am still waiting for my purchase to go through so I can play ad free. I’m very frustrated.
+ 9 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
99%
Positive (4-5★)
0%
Neutral (3★)
0%
Negative (1-2★)