Review Insights · App Store
Cryptogram: Word Brain Puzzle
Joyteractive · 235,252 ratings · ★ 4.6
4.6
★★★★★
235,252 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 57 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"
41 negative reviews mention this · 72% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Where are the new levels?. Love this game, but only like playing regular levels , ie, no mother goose, etc. So fight now, I rate this game zero to one." - **&&
2
"playing"
18 negative reviews mention this · 32% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Where are the new levels?. Love this game, but only like playing regular levels , ie, no mother goose, etc. So fight now, I rate this game zero to one." - **&&
3
"play"
15 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Where are the new levels?. Love this game, but only like playing regular levels , ie, no mother goose, etc. So fight now, I rate this game zero to one." - **&&
4
"love"
10 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Where are the new levels?. Love this game, but only like playing regular levels , ie, no mother goose, etc. So fight now, I rate this game zero to one." - **&&
5
"long"
10 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Play. I understand the need for ads. One after the third level was whatever. The fact it was 60 seconds long upset me, but again whatever, it could be skipped 20 seconds in. But then it tries to force you to play the game in the ad, and after abo…" - Thesagacious1
6
"another"
10 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Play. I understand the need for ads. One after the third level was whatever. The fact it was 60 seconds long upset me, but again whatever, it could be skipped 20 seconds in. But then it tries to force you to play the game in the ad, and after abo…" - Thesagacious1
7
"been"
10 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I would give it zero stars if I could. It’s truly disappointing when you find a game that you like and then the developers completely ruin it. The ads are utterly ridiculous and come several times during a game versus in between every couple of games. You are relaxed and on a ro…" - iShell29
8
"every"
9 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Play. I understand the need for ads. One after the third level was whatever. The fact it was 60 seconds long upset me, but again whatever, it could be skipped 20 seconds in. But then it tries to force you to play the game in the ad, and after abo…" - Thesagacious1
9
"puzzle"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I would give it zero stars if I could. It’s truly disappointing when you find a game that you like and then the developers completely ruin it. The ads are utterly ridiculous and come several times during a game versus in between every couple of games. You are relaxed and on a ro…" - iShell29
10
"playing game"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
11
"level"
7 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Where are the new levels?. Love this game, but only like playing regular levels , ie, no mother goose, etc. So fight now, I rate this game zero to one." - **&&
12
"money"
7 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I would give it zero stars if I could. It’s truly disappointing when you find a game that you like and then the developers completely ruin it. The ads are utterly ridiculous and come several times during a game versus in between every couple of games. You are relaxed and on a ro…" - iShell29
📋 All 57 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").
Where are the new levels?
Love this game, but only like playing regular levels , ie, no mother goose, etc. So fight now, I rate this game zero to one.
Реклама
Много рекламы, при любом действии вылазит реклама, в средине уровня может несколько реклам вылезти!!! Невозможно играть! Из меню в меню переходишь тоже реклама!
Play
I understand the need for ads. One after the third level was whatever. The fact it was 60 seconds long upset me, but again whatever, it could be skipped 20 seconds in. But then it tries to force you to play the game in the ad, and after about 10 seconds of not interacting it’ll give you the chance to close it. Awesome! But then it gives you ANOTHER window to close for the same damn ad! Then after I completed level 4, ANOTHER ROUND OF BS WITH THE AD. Never again am I downloading something by this creator, an ad after every level is not something I want to deal with. No response will change my mind
I would give it zero stars if I could
It’s truly disappointing when you find a game that you like and then the developers completely ruin it. The ads are utterly ridiculous and come several times during a game versus in between every couple of games. You are relaxed and on a roll solving a puzzle, and then you get completely frustrated by stupidly long ads that you can’t get out. I understand that the ads help them develop the game but they haven’t made new levels in months and so all you can do is the daily challenge if you’ve reached the end of all of the levels. I think they’re spending all of their ad money on ways that they could just charge more money. Extremely disappointed and no longer referring others to this game.
Update. I still don’t know how this game has an overall rating of 4.6 when everybody is rightfully rating it three stars and below.
If you are looking for a relaxing and fun game, this is not it. But if you are looking for something to get you utterly frustrated because of their ridiculously long ads that pop up every few seconds that they say help them update their app that hasn’t added new levels to it for at least five months or so, don’t waste your time.
5/5/26 Update: I keep trying to hang in there and enjoy this game, but the constant updates they do just destroy its potential. Now it seems that in an effort to make you watch even more ads, you choose the letter for one space and it tries to fill it in for two spaces to force an error. This happened three times. Quit the game, and when I restarted it, it did the same thing. I’ve been playing this game for years and it’s no longer fun and relaxing but rather quite frustrating. Edit: list the game three times because of this new “glitch” that puts the letter in your intended space and then immediately in the adjacent space causing an error.
Update. I still don’t know how this game has an overall rating of 4.6 when everybody is rightfully rating it three stars and below.
If you are looking for a relaxing and fun game, this is not it. But if you are looking for something to get you utterly frustrated because of their ridiculously long ads that pop up every few seconds that they say help them update their app that hasn’t added new levels to it for at least five months or so, don’t waste your time.
5/5/26 Update: I keep trying to hang in there and enjoy this game, but the constant updates they do just destroy its potential. Now it seems that in an effort to make you watch even more ads, you choose the letter for one space and it tries to fill it in for two spaces to force an error. This happened three times. Quit the game, and when I restarted it, it did the same thing. I’ve been playing this game for years and it’s no longer fun and relaxing but rather quite frustrating. Edit: list the game three times because of this new “glitch” that puts the letter in your intended space and then immediately in the adjacent space causing an error.
Ads immediately sap all the fun
This game bombards you with ads once you pass level 8. An ad to start the game and another ad in the middle of the game. Forced ads will never keep a player base when there are similar games with less ads.
Fun game, horrible ads
I want to be able to enjoy this, but it becomes oppressively unfun to deal with multiple ads per level, especially if you’re doing well at solving the puzzle so the interruptions come even faster. It makes me feel like I’m being punished for making progress.
Used to love it
I’m searching for a new game. Between the timers and the “clear the fog” feature, I hate this game now. I’m so bummed because it was my favorite.
Oh the ads!
I love this game! But the longer I use it, the more pop-up ads I get. Be forewarned! I was just working on a puzzle, and before I was halfway finished I had received 3 pop-up ads. Rather than finish, I just deleted the app after playing for over a year. I have better ways to spend my time.
Internet connection
Decent game but it keeps telling me that there is no internet connection when it is clearly not the case. A lot of other games like it so I would recommend them
So the reply to my original complaint was that it was my fault of course. They asked if I had tried switching back and forth from Wi-Fi to mobile data like I am not smart enough to have thought of this. So not only was their game not working properly, their customer service plan is to insult the customer.
So the reply to my original complaint was that it was my fault of course. They asked if I had tried switching back and forth from Wi-Fi to mobile data like I am not smart enough to have thought of this. So not only was their game not working properly, their customer service plan is to insult the customer.
U_Date B__
I used to enjoy this game, particularly the interesting quotes. Now, I played 1 puzzle, had to wait through 3 ads that took more time than the puzzle. Then I got notified three things were over, and I lost something. Guys, better luck next time, because I’ve deleted the app.
Customer service is garbage. They like to lead you but change nothing.
The addition of “rolling” for a power-up seems like a reasonable addition until you re-roll and get Shields each and every time. I addressed this with the developers and they actually seemed to be interested in improving the feature. They even asked me to record my re-rolls and send the video to them for proof. I did so. I recorded me re-rolling for over 30 minutes without stopping. Each and every time I landed on the Shield or Double Shield power-up. I lost count at 35 re-rolls to get the same result. There are power-ups I’ve yet to land on ever, but shield are easily 80% of the time. They just stopped communicating after I sent the video to prove it. I told theme they were welcome for the ad revenue I generated by re-rolling for nearly an hour. They gave me 10 hints as compensation.
The problem, however, persists. It is much more common in the “hard” levels which are two puzzles back to back.
It’s a slap in the face. I’ve spent some money on hints too. They decided that tilting the roll for power-ups to favor Shields nearly 3/4 of the time is ok. Reasonable chances of other powers is not ok. As far as I can tell, several power-ups are just neat icons because I’ve yet to land several of them. But shields, oh yes, shields are available in abundance. And when you can just watch an ad when you run out of shields to keep going, the shields truly have little value other than to make the devs feel like they are being fair.
For the record, I have reached out for support again on the issue. This time, they’ve decided to completely ignore my inquiry.
Way to ruin a great game, Devs. Greed must be their mantra because fairness is not.
Too bad I can’t give it a zero starting.
The problem, however, persists. It is much more common in the “hard” levels which are two puzzles back to back.
It’s a slap in the face. I’ve spent some money on hints too. They decided that tilting the roll for power-ups to favor Shields nearly 3/4 of the time is ok. Reasonable chances of other powers is not ok. As far as I can tell, several power-ups are just neat icons because I’ve yet to land several of them. But shields, oh yes, shields are available in abundance. And when you can just watch an ad when you run out of shields to keep going, the shields truly have little value other than to make the devs feel like they are being fair.
For the record, I have reached out for support again on the issue. This time, they’ve decided to completely ignore my inquiry.
Way to ruin a great game, Devs. Greed must be their mantra because fairness is not.
Too bad I can’t give it a zero starting.
Ruined
Been playing for years and always loved being able to do a quick brain teaser at work, but this cards stuff is terrible. Ruins the entire experience. The fact that every review is responded to with an AI response, furthers my belief that they’ve just given up on the game
Just Ads
95% of this app is ads and you spend 5% of the time actually playing
Cryptogram
Still tells me “no internet connection”!!!!
Horrible, do not waste your time
Use to be one of the best games, now is adds everywhere, timing your game adding adds in the middle of the game , to start the game, at the end of the game. Now is stressful, defeats the purpose of relax while playing
Developer Responses are canned and condescending!
I am the person who has won the special events every week for months. Yes, I played religiously to achieve this. Well, no more. It was very time consuming before, but now you've made it unmanageable. You keep pushing the ridiculous in this game. You must want people to quit playing so that you can close up shop. The person making decisions for this game should be fired!
Odd Quotes
Some of the quotes they make you fill in are very weird and a lot of them are offensive. For example, one of the recent quotes was “A conservative is a liberal who has been arrested,” which is an offensive insult. A lot of the quotes are weirdly trying to normalize just straight up wrong things and water down political injustices as well and clearly biased, sometimes political sometimes religious sometimes sexist. Children play on this app, what are you doing? I just wanted this game to have fun and instead I ended up having to write this review before deleting as I was so disturbed.
Cards SUCK
It was great until they brought in the cards. Now it takes way too long and I know a lot of the words but can’t solve them because I don’t have the “cards”. Quite frustrating. I’m going to finish Amsterdam and delete.
Ads suck
Can’t opt out of the incessant ads. Sick of Finello ads. They tell to use the No Ads button. Be great if there was such a button. New rating. -1.
Creates mistakes when there are none
Playing Blossom Burst today and even though I was EXTREMELY CAREFUL not to hit the same key, or hold it down, the app still counted it as a mistake. It happened multiple times and after the 5th time I had to “revive” and spend time watching ads, I gave up. Along with the update involving “stories” that appear on Fridays, this app is no longer ant fun. I used to play it as much as possible, but I won’t anymore.
UPDATE: closed the app completely and reopened the app from scratch. Went into Blossom Burst and the letters I had put in before were gone - it was as if I had never worked on it. But I haven’t had the problem described above since.
UPDATE: closed the app completely and reopened the app from scratch. Went into Blossom Burst and the letters I had put in before were gone - it was as if I had never worked on it. But I haven’t had the problem described above since.
ADS
I love playing this game.. BUT… THERE IS AN ABSURDLY RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF ADS!!! You are on a timer I guess because sometimes I only get one letter at a time played before another AD pops up. EXTREMELY ANNOYING!!!
Add on… so I paid my $5 to get rid of ads but now you’ve added a bomb. That goes off every few seconds and I still am watching ADS!!! I’m done … I can find another crypto game!!!
Add on… so I paid my $5 to get rid of ads but now you’ve added a bomb. That goes off every few seconds and I still am watching ADS!!! I’m done … I can find another crypto game!!!
Ads
The amount of ads that this game has is actually insane. I have never once played a game with this many ads. It is from when you open the app, then when you try to actually play, then “ad breaks” during the game. Most money grubbing game.
Changes on chapters
This was a my favorite game especially the chapters but with the major update on the chapters I can’t stand to play it anymore. I downloaded it to challenge my brain not for some fancy card game that you have to flip through a hundred times just to get the right letter. Please change it back! If not I will find another that actually does what it says it’s going to do
Just lowered my rating from 5 to 1
You RUINED A really fun game. It is now NOT FUN! What were your thinking? turning it into “solitaire” except it’s not solitaire. I am attempting the story game. It’s taking so long I THINK it’s three musketeers? It is tedious and boring now. And to make it worse I can’t figure out how to get out of this game (the stories WERE my favorite parts-NOT ANYMORE) to see if you ruined every game. Your “major update” is a word I won’t use here. If you don’t repair this I’ll HAVE TO REMOVE YOUR NOW TERRIBLE GAME AND TRY TO FIND A GOOD CRYPTOGRAM GAME!!!!! YOU SHOULD FIRE THE DEVELOPER THAT MADE THIS BLUNDER!!!!!
Reviews
I've been using this app for a few years now. You used to be fun and relaxing now it's become difficult and frustrating in certain situations. Also, my phone seems to get very very warm warm almost hot while I'm using the app and drains the battery fast. I'm probably gonna look for a different version of this game.
Forced timed puzzles
I bought this app to avoid required ads. Watching an ad to get a tip or other premium was acceptable because it was a player's choice. But now the app forces timed puzzles on you and gives you only seconds to work it. Long puzzles with no exit force you to watch a dozen or more ads to gain about ten to fifteen seconds of play. If you manage to finish one, guess what? They give you another impossible timed puzzle with no exit option. I do not recommend this game because of this. Bottom line: I paid for an app that made ads a choice. The developer changed the deal after the purchase. I don't know why Apple would tolerate this.
The Ad Breaks Hurt The Game
Deleting this app as the ad breaks in the middle of game play are ridiculous.
ads
i should be able to play a level without watching an ad first. pop up ads or an ad at the end of the level are one thing but 4 times in a row i tried to press play and an ad popped up. i deleted the app cause i just got too fed up and it wasn't worth it
What’s happening???
Love the app BUT. It doesn’t work. Only get your blank screen. Daily hasn’t works all month. What’s going on
To many ads
This is a great game but there are to many ads. Some the ads won’t stop till you play there game (NO). Others ads are to long and yet others show you how to play and use the stupidest people playing them. You can’t relax playing this game with the ads they have.
Do not get
App inserts ads that cannot be closed ever, you have to exit game to get back to game very frustrating
Great ad viewer
In the span of merely one level I saw 3 ads. 1 AS I OPENED THE APP and then 2 more once during and then once after the level. This “game” holds no relevance to increasing cryptographic complexity to my understanding in favor of just wasting my time and bandwidth.
SOOO many ads
I get ads to make money but it’s an ad before a game, ad after the game, and an ad break in the middle of a game! Spend more time watching ads than actually playing the game.
Changes aren’t always good - Perfect App Ruined
If you decide to get this app - save your money and just play it instead of purchasing the ad-free version. I’ve been playing this game for about a year and would spend hours doing so. Unfortunately, due to new developments, greed or whatever I no longer enjoy it. The daily challenge now forces you to watch app, every game offers an ad option that the player can’t turn off. It sucks and totally ruins the game experience. I’ve decided that I’ve had enough, thus the point of this review is. I will consider my purchase a loss and find another game.
Events update is awful.
I have been playing this game for years and loved the special events telling stories or for holidays. However, the new update with the solitaire/limited letters available makes it frustrating and annoying. When combined with the other challenges in events like the letters count down, they are nearly impossible. If it continues with the next event I’m done. There are other cryptogram games.
Inappropriate puzzle
UPDATE (March 27, 2026):
I’ve given up on trying to get help with the inappropriate puzzle Level 607. I’ve attempted to start multiple in-app chats and sent emails. Their responses were sporadic at best, but since they removed the in-app chat, the last email communication I received from them was on December 10, 2025 saying, “You’re in good hands and we’ll do our best to make things right.”
I’m about to run their most recent app update, so maybe something has finally been done. I doubt it.
[end of update]
I’ve tried getting a resolution to this via support in the app settings with no response. I came across a puzzle that is completely inappropriate (names an erotic peep show) for an app that doesn’t have a mature rating. I accessed it through the button underneath the brain IQ/game summary animation. I refuse to finish the puzzle and now apparently I’m stuck with it. I don’t want to know the name of it. Just knowing that it exists makes me ill, and this game is the only reason why I know it exists. There isn’t currently a way to skip a puzzle that I’m aware of. That was part of the messages I sent to support, but I haven’t gotten a response after first contacting them on May 24th (today is June 5, 2025).
Also, the in app support chat doesn’t upload screenshots correctly and it looks like I uploaded images only containing the background color.
If the only way to clear the puzzle without solving it is by deleting the app and then downloading it again, there is still a chance that I’ll get that same puzzle again. So really, at this point, my only option is to just delete it unless I can be given some direction by support.
I’ve given up on trying to get help with the inappropriate puzzle Level 607. I’ve attempted to start multiple in-app chats and sent emails. Their responses were sporadic at best, but since they removed the in-app chat, the last email communication I received from them was on December 10, 2025 saying, “You’re in good hands and we’ll do our best to make things right.”
I’m about to run their most recent app update, so maybe something has finally been done. I doubt it.
[end of update]
I’ve tried getting a resolution to this via support in the app settings with no response. I came across a puzzle that is completely inappropriate (names an erotic peep show) for an app that doesn’t have a mature rating. I accessed it through the button underneath the brain IQ/game summary animation. I refuse to finish the puzzle and now apparently I’m stuck with it. I don’t want to know the name of it. Just knowing that it exists makes me ill, and this game is the only reason why I know it exists. There isn’t currently a way to skip a puzzle that I’m aware of. That was part of the messages I sent to support, but I haven’t gotten a response after first contacting them on May 24th (today is June 5, 2025).
Also, the in app support chat doesn’t upload screenshots correctly and it looks like I uploaded images only containing the background color.
If the only way to clear the puzzle without solving it is by deleting the app and then downloading it again, there is still a chance that I’ll get that same puzzle again. So really, at this point, my only option is to just delete it unless I can be given some direction by support.
Charge
I went to look for a pay for no ads option and I found it, BUT it said like $4 and some change then charged me $41.98!! I want my money back, I’d rather play with ads than pay that. I was okay with $4 but not 40!
Ads!!!!
If you love ads then this is the game for you, just deleted it off my ipad happily to have more storage now, save yourself the headache and dont download this game
Too many ads
I am removing this App not because it wasn’t satisfying, but because all the ads associated with it.
Waste of Time and Frustration
There are much better cryptogram apps out there. This one wastes your time with annoying ads and idiotic challenges. Their quote base uses non-dictionary words that making guessing impossible. Don’t waste your time on this game and get another.
Used to enjoy a lot
I used to enjoy this app a lot but the timer has ruined it for me so much. I used it to relax, now I can’t do that .. wish they had the option to turn it off. Also now some of the letters don’t have a number.. definitely deleting it today.
Can’t Fill In the Letters
I picked a letter on the puzzle and it removed the letter (grayed it out) however that letter is needed in other places and I can’t pick it. In fact, the lines have no numbers under them either.
New story format kinda sucks
I used to love this app for probably 3+ years but the new format for the stories is way too complicated and take too long. I’d get sucked in before with most only taking like 3-8 minutes but I’m up to like 25 minutes. I don’t have that kinda time and if I did it’s not fun. Sorry guys, please go back to the old format or create an option to choose. Thanks!
Holy Ads
I would love to give the game itself 4/5. I like the game. There’s things here and there I would love to fix for QOL. It really is a fun game. It can be challenging. Some of the quotes seems like it was taken from AI, especially from their themed event. AI is fine, I just wish they would review it first before publishing the quotes.
I’m giving this game a 2/5 stars because of the ads. There are times after an ad, I put down 5 letters and I get hit an ad. The game is flooded with ads. Making it not enjoyable. The game also drains the battery really fast.
I’m giving this game a 2/5 stars because of the ads. There are times after an ad, I put down 5 letters and I get hit an ad. The game is flooded with ads. Making it not enjoyable. The game also drains the battery really fast.
Too many ads
Way too many ads during game play
Terrible update
Had this app for awhile, but the timer and only allowing letters that you have the card for made me delete.
Downhill
I understand needing the ads to make money. But the amount of ad breaks have increased so much it’s not as enjoyable to play. Also I liked there was no porn add. Now after a certain time there they are. I was going to give it a five star rating. I have been playing this game for awhile, it helps me relax. But after the increase in ad breaks and adult content ads at night. I’ll probably just delete it.
New game format is horrible
The developers are trying to make this more like a solitaire game with the new game format. It’s horrible. I’ve been playing this game for 2+ years and I’m about to pack it in. If I wanted solitaire, I’d play it.
I’m deleting this app
This is a fun game but some of the quotes are really offensive.
Like this one: Slavery is no more sinful, by the Christian code, than it is sinful to wear a whole coat, while another is in tatters, to eat a better meal than a neighbor, or otherwise to enjoy ease and plenty, while our fellow creatures are suffering and in want. James Fenimore Cooper American writer, 1789 - 1851
I messaged customer service and got a nice AI response but no indication that anything would be done.
Like this one: Slavery is no more sinful, by the Christian code, than it is sinful to wear a whole coat, while another is in tatters, to eat a better meal than a neighbor, or otherwise to enjoy ease and plenty, while our fellow creatures are suffering and in want. James Fenimore Cooper American writer, 1789 - 1851
I messaged customer service and got a nice AI response but no indication that anything would be done.
Way too many ads
This is a really fun app., But there are way too many ads. A few Ads I don’t mind , this app does ads just cuz it’s been a minute since you have seen one. Too bad.
+ 7 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
89%
Positive (4-5★)
7%
Neutral (3★)
4%
Negative (1-2★)