Royal Match vs The Past Within

How do Royal Match and The Past Within 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 Past Within
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	4.9 / 5
Ratings count	3,787,192	7,215
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 Exceptional atmospheric design and artwork Clever co-op puzzle mechanics requiring communication Excellent sound design and spooky ambiance Common complaints Game is too short for the price Co-op only requirement frustrating for solo players Limited replay value without additional chapters

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 Past Within — A gorgeously atmospheric co-op-only point-and-click puzzle adventure where two players explore interconnected past and future worlds from different visual perspectives. (rated medium difficulty, none ad pressure)

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