Royal Match vs The Gardens Between

How do Royal Match and The Gardens Between compare on difficulty, ad pressure, in-app-purchase pressure and what real reviewers say? A side-by-side look, grounded in App Store data.

	Royal Match	The Gardens Between
Genre	Puzzle	Puzzle
Price	Free	Paid
Difficulty	hard	medium
Ad intensity	high	none
In-app-purchase pressure	high	none
Typical session	medium	medium
Rating	4.7 / 5	4.8 / 5
Ratings count	3,787,192	3,686
Reviews say	What players like Entertaining and addictive gameplay loop Progression system unlocks new castle areas Powerful boosters and collectible rewards Common complaints Levels become impossible without in-app purchases Difficulty spike designed to pressure spending Pay-to-win mechanics targeting spenders with easier levels	What players like Storybook-inspired vibrant art style Innovative time-manipulation puzzle mechanics Meaningful narrative about friendship and growing up Common complaints <UNKNOWN>

Royal Match — Match-3 puzzle game where you restore a royal castle by breaking obstacles and combining power-ups to beat challenging levels. (rated hard difficulty, high ad pressure) The Gardens Between — A poetic puzzle game where you manipulate time across dreamlike gardens to explore the memories and bonds of two childhood friends. (rated medium difficulty, none ad pressure)

Data: Apple App Store, as of 2026-08-24. Last updated 2026-08-24.