Review Insights · App Store
Ruzzle
MAG Interactive · 7,787 ratings · ★ 4.2
4.2
★★★★★
7,787 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 53 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"
40 negative reviews mention this · 75% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Annoying Ad. Even though I paid to eliminate ads, they keep showing up in practice mode. Because of that I rarely play the game anymore. Some of the changes made over the years have also made it less enjoyable. Good job at ruining what used to be a fun …" - ocdbarbie
2
"play"
16 negative reviews mention this · 30% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Annoying Ad. Even though I paid to eliminate ads, they keep showing up in practice mode. Because of that I rarely play the game anymore. Some of the changes made over the years have also made it less enjoyable. Good job at ruining what used to be a fun …" - ocdbarbie
3
"years"
12 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Annoying Ad. Even though I paid to eliminate ads, they keep showing up in practice mode. Because of that I rarely play the game anymore. Some of the changes made over the years have also made it less enjoyable. Good job at ruining what used to be a fun …" - ocdbarbie
4
"playing"
12 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Clunky, desperate. Throwing ads in mid game is maddening. The game can’t even sustain volume if you have sounds on. Such a simple pleasant game ruined by a disjointed playing experience." - Bryan Hess
5
"middle"
12 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "TOO MANY ADS. would give 5 stars I use to be able to enjoy but cannot now without 5 million ads popping up MID game it’s gotten ridiculous. Ads after a game fine but several in the middle of a game is insane! Actual tv apps have less ads/commercials than…" - DJohn248
6
"middle game"
9 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
7
"ruzzle"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Now has Ads in paid premium service!. I paid for Ruzzle premium with no ads, but there are now Ads in practice mode. Reached out to customer service, but was told this was a recent change And that ads are optional in practice mode. Feels like they are taking advantage of t…" - Gigiliqwerty
8
"played"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great game, but tons of bugs. Have played this since the early days of the iPhone, and still do. When it works, it’s great fun! But… the sound is completely dead for me now. And also the game will sometimes completely lock up and basically brick my phone where I can’t…" - zj111
9
"every"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Great game, but tons of bugs. Have played this since the early days of the iPhone, and still do. When it works, it’s great fun! But… the sound is completely dead for me now. And also the game will sometimes completely lock up and basically brick my phone where I can’t…" - zj111
10
"paid"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Annoying Ad. Even though I paid to eliminate ads, they keep showing up in practice mode. Because of that I rarely play the game anymore. Some of the changes made over the years have also made it less enjoyable. Good job at ruining what used to be a fun …" - ocdbarbie
11
"update"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Updated review. I have had this game in excess of 10yrs, I prefer to just play the practice mode because there is no Zen mode. I paid for ad free. Now, there are ads on the practice mode. I told developer about paying for ad free, and they said the ads tha…" - melsonomel
12
"seconds"
6 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Commercials interrupting game play. Commercials showing up during gameplay and taking away seconds to swipe them away and therefore my points!" - Bunnykims
📋 All 53 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’s the sound???
No sound and extra ads… what’s up with that?
Annoying Ad
Even though I paid to eliminate ads, they keep showing up in practice mode. Because of that I rarely play the game anymore. Some of the changes made over the years have also made it less enjoyable. Good job at ruining what used to be a fun game.
TOO MANY ADS
would give 5 stars I use to be able to enjoy but cannot now without 5 million ads popping up MID game it’s gotten ridiculous. Ads after a game fine but several in the middle of a game is insane! Actual tv apps have less ads/commercials than this!
Commercials interrupting game play
Commercials showing up during gameplay and taking away seconds to swipe them away and therefore my points!
Ads
Water land ad comes on repeatedly with no way to close it. Cost you 2 stars and if not fixed ASAP, this player and many who play against me.
Ruined it!
It was a great game and I used to have fun playing until they added videos at the bottom. While you’re playing, it is easy to accidentally hit the link, which causes a commercial to pop ruining your concentration and eating your time. I am deleting the game!😡
Fun game, unskippable ads
Title says it all. It’s infuriating and shouldn’t be allowed.
Updated review
I have had this game in excess of 10yrs, I prefer to just play the practice mode because there is no Zen mode. I paid for ad free. Now, there are ads on the practice mode. I told developer about paying for ad free, and they said the ads that are on practice mode are a new “feature” and not what I paid for. I asked nicely if they could remove this “ feature “ & never got a reply. Now I have to get out of the app & get back in to make the ads disappear. They’ll take your money & then find a way to shove ads in your face anyway.
inaccurate chips
game is fun at first but chips are not accurately rewarded. i would win a few matches in a row, 100 chips at a time, and i somehow end up with less than 100. ruzzle needs to fix this
Purchased game and now they are running adds and the adds sometimes will not end, nice!
Very Disappointing
One star
Game sucks. Have played for a VERY long time doing “team play.” Been with this team for years.
Game is rigged against you if you don’t use boosts. Why would the developers allow them in a word game that should be skill-based? It’s beyond frustrating to see your opponent (bot?) win by over 1000 points when you BEAT them in round 1&2.
I am playing till coins run out. This feels too much like a job.
Game is rigged against you if you don’t use boosts. Why would the developers allow them in a word game that should be skill-based? It’s beyond frustrating to see your opponent (bot?) win by over 1000 points when you BEAT them in round 1&2.
I am playing till coins run out. This feels too much like a job.
Unplayable because of ads
simply unplayable; every single game leads to an ad that may be 5 minutes before you can get out of it.
Not so great anymore
I really loved this game and played it several times a day for years. Now all of a sudden without warning there are constant long ads before you can play. Very disappointed
FRAUD!!!
I purchased the “Ads Free” option and for years it was free of ads. However after a software update for “bug fixes” I get lengthy ads and have been unable to get a resolution to the problem. I have uninstalled and reinstalled and have contacted the developer and Apple to no avail. BEWARE OF FRAUD! It has become untenable to play the game.
Fix the sound
Nothing works I've tried. The sound goes out. Fix it.
Add still popup
I paid for the app but occasionally ads still pop up and they don’t let you remove them. It is a pain in the butt.
Former Ruzzle Fan
May have to find a new daily puzzle. The ads that pop up while a game is in progress are unacceptable. Plenty of great games in the sea!
Adds
your games a 4 star game but stop giving me adds every round and even during games it’s a joke. It doesn’t make me want to pay for no adds it makes me want to give u a terrible review and delete ur game
Need bug fixes
I keep getting stuck in the township ad. There’s no way to exit unless I restart the game. Any match I had going resets.
Volume issues
You figured out how to put snow on the Ruzzle sign but you can’t figure out the volume problem. Terrible!!!!And Why am I forced to watch ads while playing the game. An ad will interrupt a game in progress and when the game comes back, the volume is gone. Been playing this game for years. This is unacceptable!
Glitches
I’m having a lot of issues with the game glitching as im playing. It freezes and I can’t exit out, and or it begins to blink rapidly and I have to re started my phone
***Issue with iOS 26.2*** Game Does Not Load
Update, I just uninstalled the game. I will try to reload it. Beware if you have iOS 26.2. Game becomes slow and if you upgrade it, it becomes unworkable!!
Game Won’t Work! Started yesterday with slow loading, then slow play, to the point where it was useless to continue. Later it would not load at all. There is no support option for Mag to request help, or inform them of the issue. However, I am guessing they know because an update appeared 3 hrs ago. I downloaded it and game STILL WILL NOT LOAD.
I guess it is back to Boggle, which is inferior, except that I can ACTUALLY PLAY it. You get 2 stars because it is better than Boggle, if/when you can play it.
Game Won’t Work! Started yesterday with slow loading, then slow play, to the point where it was useless to continue. Later it would not load at all. There is no support option for Mag to request help, or inform them of the issue. However, I am guessing they know because an update appeared 3 hrs ago. I downloaded it and game STILL WILL NOT LOAD.
I guess it is back to Boggle, which is inferior, except that I can ACTUALLY PLAY it. You get 2 stars because it is better than Boggle, if/when you can play it.
The game keeps freezing!
Please fix ASAP!
Ads mid-game
It’s a classic iOS game that I use to enjoy. Now I consistently get 1-3+ ads in the middle of my games that roll for ~5 seconds EACH, then cut off and return to the game, AND your time keeps ticking down while the ads play. I won’t bother playing again until this is fixed, there just isn’t a reason to when other games aren’t broken in such a way.
App does not work reliably
I played for not even ten minutes, and ads caused my phone to crash three times. I uninstalled.
Ads during the game makes me rage
I can’t play anymore. The ads that pop up in the middle of a game disrupts your play, impairs your skill and takes the fun out of it.
Worst part is it makes me rage. Not fun at all. It ruins a good game. Ads at the end or beginning; fine. But during? Not cool at all. Typical greed kills a good thing.
Worst part is it makes me rage. Not fun at all. It ruins a good game. Ads at the end or beginning; fine. But during? Not cool at all. Typical greed kills a good thing.
Very disappointed with the new ad approach
I have played this game a long time and always loved it. But recently it started showing popup ads in the middle of a round - very distracting and totally throws off the play. On top if that some of the ads are pretty sexual and highly inappropriate for a game like this. I get that you need to make money with ads but keep it between rounds and get rid of these obnoxious and inappropriate ones! I’m about ready to remove the gane from my phone!
Keeps crashing
Love the game, been playing for many years, but it keeps crashing right now :( hopefully this is temporary
Terrible
Not fun at all
Bug freezes app; games not fun anymore
UPDATE 1/1/26: App freezes in the middle of games now. Happens every few games in weekly tournament. Sometimes the freeze locks my phone: I can’t swipe to close the app. Screen stays frozen for several seconds, then flashes rapidly (terrible for epilepsy and migraine sufferers)-but at least I can then close the app.
I paid years ago to remove ads. But now I wonder if those random freezes are the app trying to pop an ad in the middle of a game. That makes this major bug even worse. I think it’s finally time to delete Ruzzle for good.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Most games in the new “Events” area often freeze the app. Example: the daily high score game. (I forget what it’s called... Daily Totalisser”?) The Events landing page and this game’s landing page will show the game’s ending in, say, 5 hours. I can enter the game and play one time; when I’m done, I get a “game ending soon, not enough time to play another round” warning/error modal-even though there are supposedly 5 hours left to play. There’s a button on the modal that’s I guess is supposed to take me back to the Events landing page. The button doesn’t work and there’s no other way to clear the modal, making it appear that the app freezes whenever this modal appears. I have to close and restart the app at this point.
The only Events game that doesn’t have this problem is the weekly challenge: its “time left” indicator seems accurate. I’ll give the app one star for this unglitchy bright spot. Unfortunately, this game (like the others) now costs chips to play, and each booster cost coins. (I’m not sure why Ruzzle introduced chips in the first place with this game update.) Obviously whoever has the most coins to spend will likely score the highest and win the most coins. And I don’t like having to pay chips each time I want to play a round. I like casino apps, but Ruzzle’s not a casino. Rounds should be free to play.
I haven’t tried playing one on one rounds in this new version of Ruzzle (though I used to play them in the old version) because frankly, I feel it’d be a disappointing experience based on what I’ve seen in Events. I also won’t bother watching ads or completing surveys, as I’m sure that’d also be a bad experience. When I run out of coins and/or chips, I’ll probably quit Ruzzle for good. Too bad, because this app used to be one of the ways I woke up my brain each morning. Now it adds frustration to my mornings. That’s not how I want to start my day.
I paid years ago to remove ads. But now I wonder if those random freezes are the app trying to pop an ad in the middle of a game. That makes this major bug even worse. I think it’s finally time to delete Ruzzle for good.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Most games in the new “Events” area often freeze the app. Example: the daily high score game. (I forget what it’s called... Daily Totalisser”?) The Events landing page and this game’s landing page will show the game’s ending in, say, 5 hours. I can enter the game and play one time; when I’m done, I get a “game ending soon, not enough time to play another round” warning/error modal-even though there are supposedly 5 hours left to play. There’s a button on the modal that’s I guess is supposed to take me back to the Events landing page. The button doesn’t work and there’s no other way to clear the modal, making it appear that the app freezes whenever this modal appears. I have to close and restart the app at this point.
The only Events game that doesn’t have this problem is the weekly challenge: its “time left” indicator seems accurate. I’ll give the app one star for this unglitchy bright spot. Unfortunately, this game (like the others) now costs chips to play, and each booster cost coins. (I’m not sure why Ruzzle introduced chips in the first place with this game update.) Obviously whoever has the most coins to spend will likely score the highest and win the most coins. And I don’t like having to pay chips each time I want to play a round. I like casino apps, but Ruzzle’s not a casino. Rounds should be free to play.
I haven’t tried playing one on one rounds in this new version of Ruzzle (though I used to play them in the old version) because frankly, I feel it’d be a disappointing experience based on what I’ve seen in Events. I also won’t bother watching ads or completing surveys, as I’m sure that’d also be a bad experience. When I run out of coins and/or chips, I’ll probably quit Ruzzle for good. Too bad, because this app used to be one of the ways I woke up my brain each morning. Now it adds frustration to my mornings. That’s not how I want to start my day.
Awful Disgusting Ads
Had to uninstall because ads pop up while you’re playing the game, mid-play. There’s also disgusting ASMR ads with body parts and holes with bugs, hair, and maggots coming out of them. Awful and inappropriate and sickening.
Ads, Ads, and MORE ADS!
I love the game, but the ads just got out of control. There are ads before and after your games. Now, there were games in the middle of your games.. just when you’re hitting your stride and in the middle of a game, a pop-up ad shows up. You try to get rid of it, but another one pops up. It’s absolutely horrendous. I am finally done with Ruzzle!
Needs an update
I’ve played this game for AGES, even paid for the ad free experience. Now it just crashes constantly.
Too many cheaters
Too many cheaters now which takes away from the fun.
Ads show up in the middle of a game
Stupid, stupid bug that hasn’t been fixed for ages. Ads show right in the middle of a game, completely disturbing one’s rhythm and focus.
ADS IN THE MIDDLE OF A GAME
Why are there ads in the middle of the game?! It’s a timed game and every second counts.. it happened once and I let it go bc I thought it was just a glitch or something but it kept happening!
Update: 12-23-25
4 ads popped up while I was in the middle of a match?? 4?! And the countdown didn’t stop… I don’t know what’s going on but this needs to be fixed. I get having ads after a game like get your bag, but it’s starting to actually interfere with the game and making me want to delete it. I really do enjoy this game but please for the love of God fix this
Update: 12-23-25
4 ads popped up while I was in the middle of a match?? 4?! And the countdown didn’t stop… I don’t know what’s going on but this needs to be fixed. I get having ads after a game like get your bag, but it’s starting to actually interfere with the game and making me want to delete it. I really do enjoy this game but please for the love of God fix this
Happy
No review at this time although I’ve played many years. My #1 issue is I cannot get any audio to work.
The worst issue is Ruzzle has no type of support to try to get help. Only offering articles. So my issue does not have an article then I cannot get any help for my problem. I have an iPhone 16, which is updated. I’ve also turned the phone on and off. Not having this problem anywhere else!
The worst issue is Ruzzle has no type of support to try to get help. Only offering articles. So my issue does not have an article then I cannot get any help for my problem. I have an iPhone 16, which is updated. I’ve also turned the phone on and off. Not having this problem anywhere else!
Greed ruined this game for me
I’ve enjoyed this game for many years. Today I deleted it because ads now play in the middle of my game. It totally disrupts my concentration and ruins the game. So now I just get angry every time an ad runs. Great job developers! You just lost a long time player, who is never coming back.
Buggy mess
Filled with bugs and ads. Terrible.
so lame what this game has become
This game is just a buggy, ad filled mess compared to what it used to be. If you’re looking for an alternative game similar to this one I’ve started playing Word Blitz. It has a similar layout and you don’t have to have internet nor do you have to sit through 15 predatory ads per game.
Just a bunch of AI slop after almost every round. Some as long as 30 seconds and UNSKIPPABLE. I don’t know if this is intentional, but never in my life has an unskippable ad-or any ad for that matter-made me want to buy or download anything ever. I’ll sooner delete the game than sit through the disgusting amount of ads you’re attempting to shove down my throat.
Also, update your dictionary. How is ‘pistel’ not a word, but ‘aa’ is? 😒
10/26/2025
The game freezes and when I exit and reenter the game the screen flashes (which can potentially cause seizures). Thankfully I don’t have epilepsy, but others should be aware.
9/2/2025
The update did nothing to resolve the issues I’ve listed below.
8/31/2025
I keep getting kicked out of teams without reason. There’s no option to kick people out, so I don’t know why that keeps happening. There’s no sort of system notification or anything to provide clarity.
Bugs:
1. The sound cuts off in the middle of a round. I have to either exit the app then comback or completely exit for it to come back.
2. Swiping across the screen becomes choppy, causing me to loose time to increase my score. Once again, I have to completely exit the game to resolve the issue
3. Chips are not rewarded properly. When I when a round-I, once again-have to exit the app for my rewards to show.
4. At one point I had to replay one round with the same board like 5 times before it actually registered.
5. The chat notifications reappear when I open the app, even if I’ve already read the messages. I have a red bubble over the chat button from messages I recieved in JULY.
Ads:
1. Ads will open in the middle of a game without clicking on the banner at the bottom.
2. Speaking of ads, they pop up after every round. The banners are fine, even an ad after a complete 3-round game would be fine-but after EVERY SINGLE GAME? Are we serious? Are we that scrapped for money?
3. I am not paying 5 dollars for only 3 months of ad-free game play. I’d delete the game before I even consider doing that. If you’re going to advertise it, the least you could do is make it last forever. Like, why 3 months? That’s oddly specific
Features:
1. The boosters make the game redundant. What’s the point of a skill/stretegy based game when you can just…buy the words. There’s literally no point in trying.
2. Why do you need chips to play the events? Why can’t it be coins, or I don’t know, free to play?
3. A 5 to 8 hour timer for the weekly solo? Do you want me to complete the challenge or not?
4. When you switch teams you chips don’t transfer over.
Just a bunch of AI slop after almost every round. Some as long as 30 seconds and UNSKIPPABLE. I don’t know if this is intentional, but never in my life has an unskippable ad-or any ad for that matter-made me want to buy or download anything ever. I’ll sooner delete the game than sit through the disgusting amount of ads you’re attempting to shove down my throat.
Also, update your dictionary. How is ‘pistel’ not a word, but ‘aa’ is? 😒
10/26/2025
The game freezes and when I exit and reenter the game the screen flashes (which can potentially cause seizures). Thankfully I don’t have epilepsy, but others should be aware.
9/2/2025
The update did nothing to resolve the issues I’ve listed below.
8/31/2025
I keep getting kicked out of teams without reason. There’s no option to kick people out, so I don’t know why that keeps happening. There’s no sort of system notification or anything to provide clarity.
Bugs:
1. The sound cuts off in the middle of a round. I have to either exit the app then comback or completely exit for it to come back.
2. Swiping across the screen becomes choppy, causing me to loose time to increase my score. Once again, I have to completely exit the game to resolve the issue
3. Chips are not rewarded properly. When I when a round-I, once again-have to exit the app for my rewards to show.
4. At one point I had to replay one round with the same board like 5 times before it actually registered.
5. The chat notifications reappear when I open the app, even if I’ve already read the messages. I have a red bubble over the chat button from messages I recieved in JULY.
Ads:
1. Ads will open in the middle of a game without clicking on the banner at the bottom.
2. Speaking of ads, they pop up after every round. The banners are fine, even an ad after a complete 3-round game would be fine-but after EVERY SINGLE GAME? Are we serious? Are we that scrapped for money?
3. I am not paying 5 dollars for only 3 months of ad-free game play. I’d delete the game before I even consider doing that. If you’re going to advertise it, the least you could do is make it last forever. Like, why 3 months? That’s oddly specific
Features:
1. The boosters make the game redundant. What’s the point of a skill/stretegy based game when you can just…buy the words. There’s literally no point in trying.
2. Why do you need chips to play the events? Why can’t it be coins, or I don’t know, free to play?
3. A 5 to 8 hour timer for the weekly solo? Do you want me to complete the challenge or not?
4. When you switch teams you chips don’t transfer over.
Sounds cut out too often
Do not recommend this game for iPhone users. Fun game I’d consider paying for no ads but way too often the sounds just stop. If I change the volume, they resume for a few seconds the stop again. This is on iPhone 13 Pro. Still happens on iOS 26.
Clunky, desperate
Throwing ads in mid game is maddening. The game can’t even sustain volume if you have sounds on. Such a simple pleasant game ruined by a disjointed playing experience.
Frustrated
Ads keep randomly popping up in the middle of games! Really, really annoying.
Ads are a problem
Why are there now ads that pop up in the middle of a game. First you had ads that don’t end and you have to shut the game down to get it to stop. Today, ads have begun, popping up right in the middle of playing a round!! Are you trying to ruin your game?
Now has Ads in paid premium service!
I paid for Ruzzle premium with no ads, but there are now Ads in practice mode. Reached out to customer service, but was told this was a recent change And that ads are optional in practice mode. Feels like they are taking advantage of their premium users. Makes me not want to play it anymore.
Great game, but tons of bugs
Have played this since the early days of the iPhone, and still do. When it works, it’s great fun!
But… the sound is completely dead for me now. And also the game will sometimes completely lock up and basically brick my phone where I can’t even exit the app, until iOS realizes it’s locked up and force-quits it about 10 seconds later. (New iPhone Pro, current OS)
Then there are times where the screen freezes in a “jittery state” but it’s still playable and the sound works.
It also occupies over 1GB of storage because I suspect it caches every single ad it’s ever displayed.
Great game, and an early game-app pioneer, but technically, it’s become such a hot mess in so many ways in the past year or so, and much worse in the past few months. It’s probably the most consistently bug-ridden app I’ve ever used and I wonder how it makes it through Apple Store quality control.
But… the sound is completely dead for me now. And also the game will sometimes completely lock up and basically brick my phone where I can’t even exit the app, until iOS realizes it’s locked up and force-quits it about 10 seconds later. (New iPhone Pro, current OS)
Then there are times where the screen freezes in a “jittery state” but it’s still playable and the sound works.
It also occupies over 1GB of storage because I suspect it caches every single ad it’s ever displayed.
Great game, and an early game-app pioneer, but technically, it’s become such a hot mess in so many ways in the past year or so, and much worse in the past few months. It’s probably the most consistently bug-ridden app I’ve ever used and I wonder how it makes it through Apple Store quality control.
Frustrated!
I've been a player for years! Since the last update, the game constantly freezes please fix this!
Used to love Ruzzle…
…and then the ads showed up! For many of the ads, there is no way to exit out, or you have to sit through MINUTES of the ad before the option to exit appears. Never had ads before over several years of playing. What the heck?
DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS GAME
It cannot be removed. Scam scam scam
I paid to have commercials removed.
What do I have, now? A ####### commercial, every time I open the app.
Not. Happy.
Not. Happy.
+ 3 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
78%
Positive (4-5★)
7%
Neutral (3★)
15%
Negative (1-2★)