Dear Reader
Literary Wordplay
How much does Dear Reader cost?
Prices are current as of 14 Oct 2026.
Dear Reader has no in-app products on record in the United States.
10+ alternatives to Dear Reader
| Dear Reader |   Crossword Jam+ |   tint. |   Words of Wonders: Search+ |   Water Sort Puzzle: Get Color+ |   Disney Getaway Blast+ |   Bridge Constructor+ |   Crossword Explorer+ |   Super Monsters Ate My Condo+ |   PUZZLE & DRAGONS STORY |   Knotwords+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating / 5 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 3.9 | 3.8 |
| Reviews | 1.3K | 31K | 18K | 15K | 13K | 13K | 9.6K | 3.2K | 2.4K | 579 | 276 |
| Released | 2019 | 2023 | 2019 | 2025 | 2026 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2024 | 2023 | 2023 |
Dear Reader reviews
4.6 out of 5, based on 1,271 reviews.
What people like
- Helps you discover classic literature
- Fun puzzles that challenge your brain
- Beautiful design and unique concept
What they complain about
- Requires Apple Arcade subscription to play
- App crashes and deletes your progress
- Forces you into Pride and Prejudice
BEST GAME EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m 12, and I was looking for a good game, and I found this. Best game ever!!!!!!! I combines literature and happiness, which is the best combo ever. It is really satisfying, and fun. I didn’t realize how good pride and prejudice actually is until I found this app. Lol, I am never deleting this game!
No settings for sound
This game forced me to play Pride and Prejudiced for over 5 chapters making me unable to hit the home button instead of next chapter After those five chapters while still being grayed out I was FINALLY able to go back to the Home Screen to try to find a way to turn off the sound. Which apparently there is no way of doing. 0 settings, yeah that cog wheel in the bottom right of the Home Screen? It does nothing. I sat there tapping it over 50 times. I just want to listen to my own things while playing this game but the sounds are way louder than what I want to listen to so it destroys my ears.
Love the game but…
Just wish it could be purchased without an Apple Arcade subscription. If it were, I would keep playing.
Books Too Expensive
I haven't tried the others, but I honestly don't like Dear Reader. I started playing it because I like Classical Literature so I thought this would be a cool way to engage in it. But while the game started out fun, it turned bad as it takes way too much ink to buy books and the later achievements to get Rare Book tokens are near impossible. It felt like ones of those micro transactions filled games without the microtransactions, as while I'm thankful it's free it's still wants you to spend too much time on it. One positive note is that it reignited my interest in classical literature and helped recommend some books I've never tried or even heard of before, so that was cool.
I was having fun until…
I’ve been playing this game for a while now. I love it betas someone who has been labeled as dyslexic it’s a fun game. I do have just ONE issue. I’ve come across the daily challenges and there’s just one that’s super annoying. It’s where the words are switched places and you click one and it changes automatically. However for someone who (and to anyone who can do this) can basically “autocorrect” mentally and do not read it as an error it’s really frustrating. I actually skip the daily challenges because of this.
Nice English game
I very love it to reading and practicing
wont even open
any time i try to open the app it just opens a black screen. ive tried restarting my ipad, redownloading the app, everything. nothing works. i was excited to try this game :(
Missing one key feature
I am thoroughly enjoying this game but I cannot fully recommend it due to one key flaw. As you play through the levels, there is no easy way to read what lies in between the excerpts. Of course you could separately acquire a copy (the app does link you to the text) but it would be a very useful feature if there was a mode you could turn on that would allow you to read what’s in between in the app. Without that, it is closer to just reading an abridged summary of the works than the true books.
American Black Authors Not Wanted
I greatly enjoy both the concept and execution of this game. The puzzles keep me engaged through the story, especially with being able to remove those which I do not find appealing (like the speed read). I do not even mind the focus on classical books. The old books are in danger of being forgotten which would be tragic; they have much to teach us. I take umbrage with the fact that there are no books from American Black authors. Zora Neal Hurston, Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Mildred D. Taylor, Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, August Wilson, Claude Brown. Give me somebody please.
Offensive content
So, I have the daily challenge widget on my Home Screen, yeah? It includes a phrase from the daily chapter, which goes away once you play the challenge. It’s usually fine, but today is different. I open my phone today, and you know what I see in the Dear Reader widget? A phrase with the word “N*gro”. That isn’t okay! It’s racist! If that word is in the daily chapter, that’s fine. But I don’t want such language featured on my screen. Please fix this!
Good game!
I like this game a lot, but I have some book suggestions: The Giver, Lois Lowry The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton Friedrich, Hans Peter Richter All of these books were read by me in 8th Grade ELA, and all of them are good books.
Old dusty books
Old dusty boring books, deleted
Good
As a big book lover I recommend this game I love it a lot because it’s fun but I wish there were newer books. I understand that classic books are being forgotten and they are amazing but I want Harry Potter, and please add more children’s books for younger people like me I want other options. I like the puzzles but some are a bit absurd and they sound weird I know it’s the books but it’s because they’re old like old language that’s why I want newer books please. So anyways I like this game but just add newer books ☺️✌️
What a waste of “ink”
I absolutely loved this game until I wasted vast amounts of “ink” to get their “rare” book Don Juan. Rare books in this game cost much more ink but are worth it (usually). In this case, don’t bother! We barely get any of the poem at all….never even meet the protagonist, only his mother. I truly feel I have been swindled and it’s put me off this great game. I did write and complain but received no reply.
Too many errors
I thoroughly enjoy this game, and would have given it five stars; however, several times during play I have found errors that stop research progress (including titles with exactly four words not counting as a title with exactly four words, titles with all caps not counting as a title with all caps, etc.). I reached out to game support to notify them and nothing has changed. It’s discouraging, as I would love to play this game more, but can’t make progress with these types of errors.
Love it, with a small suggestion
I absolutely love this app. It challenges my brain daily, yet it's also incredibly relaxing. ONE TINY SUGGESTION: when you're looking at a book in the store and hit the back arrow, I wish it would keep your place in the store- I spend a bit of time scrolling to find where I left off in the store catalog. Thanks for a great experience!
No concern for neurodiversity
The first time I downloaded the game, there was no tutorial so I thought it was just a book reading app. This time I tried it, the tutorial was ok…I wasn’t thrilled with having a book chosen for me, but ok. Then today I decided to try the daily challenge. I guess the developers assume that everyone is a speed reader. I hadn’t even gotten to the portion of the excerpt where the missing word belonged when the game took the word out and had me guess which one belongs there. I guessed correctly and had the same thing happen again. At that point I quit the game. I’m done…this game is supposed to be about reading and comprehension, not seeing how fast you can get through a paragraph or guessing which words belong in the sentence.
Fun
Great game I just wish that I know what I’m getting with the chapter reward when I accidentally clicked on it.
Good premise, but…
It keeps forcing me to read Pride & Prejudice. The exit button is grayed out. I cannot exit or choose something else to read.
Make one for students!
I teach second grade and when we have our English language arts testing one of the tests that they score very low on is where they have to pick one of three words for various sentences and a story. I think this would be great practice and perhaps could be used in schools.
Love it
I can’t remember the last time I reviewed an app, but this game is just so great that it deserves a five star review. It is fun, unique and beautifully designed. My brain loves the challenging, educational content vs rotting away with mindless clicks. I’ve now “partially” read many classic texts that I’ve long avoided and have even been hooked enough from the previews to download the full novels on my kindle for future reading. If I had to choose one “critique”, it would be that I wish there were more modern books available, but other than that, the game is perfection.
Just a black screen
App doesn’t seem to even load. Have tried deleting and reinstalling. Looks fun though…
Love it
I love this game! But I really want there to be book from the later 1900s and 2000s because it would be more fun doing this to books that people read that are newer.
Lefty liberal books only it seems 😂
Have played this game A LOT, but it is clear the “The Editors” are raving lefties! I’ve nearly got all the books in the library now, most of the content covers every woke genre you could think of! I play it anyway, but PLEASE get some other books in there and tone down the lefty liberal stuff. It’s getting boring! Otherwise a great game!
Good but flawed
The core gameplay is very good but unfortunately there are a few anti-fun patterns built into the game: -As you complete chapters you receive a currency called ink which is used to buy other books. However only a small selection of books is available for purchase at a time. -Some of the books are locked behind goals (quests). This in itself isn’t bad but some of the goals are really frustrating. For example complete one chapter every day for thirty days straight without any gaps. Please remove these anti-fun patterns.
Masterpiece!
Unique, Insightful, Provocative, Comprehension Exercises, Direct engagement with words, rearranging syntax. A beautiful game, all the millions of readers worldwide, should immediately download and play this gem - they would cherish it!
restrictive tutorial
Tutorial locks you into pride and prejudice Without been able to adjust background music other settings and I’ll see if the app has read material that will be interest to the user been highly dyslexic I thought this app would be challenging and difficult for me but I might find some interest Is the lock me into a Slo-mo a story like pride and prejudice that I have more interesting meant that I can’t find the motivation to explore the mechanics of your puzzle game is on I hope this review is useful in some way
Far too political
I don’t have a problem with politics but this app has certain agendas. I would like it if it were much more accessible and not to alienate a huge audience. Introducing classical and contemporary books to balance out the content would be a good idea. I like the app and I’m hooked on the books I’ve got in my library and it’s introduced me to some great literature but I think it needs a bit of refining. I’m also not an American so it’s kind of strange to read about black struggles and what not when I’m not interested in it. Also another thing, the store could use some improving, sometimes books are there that I have already read and it would make better sense to get rid of this and some of the features. It’s a very casual game not Fortnite so I don’t understand why it needs such a feature. Make all the books available for a certain price, the random weekly drop makes no sense for this kind of game. Otherwise this game would be excellent
Glitchy
Cannot play past intro. Seemed like a fun relaxing game. However bugs prevent me from using the navigation bar. What a shame.
Great!
The game is fun but I’m finding that the app glitches. I played it earlier today but now I can’t access the story.
Hmmm
I promise just read books. This is not a better experience just because it uses a technology. Reading books is more fun and you can find them on whatever app your local library uses. If you don’t follow my advice I’ll literally get you so
No way to get out it the library.
Game over. And deleted. Might be fun ... but I cannot exit the library. Poor UX.
This is the nerdy game I needed
Dear Reader is so much fun. As it begins, the levels are easy but quickly become more challenging. The puzzles are varied and several in particular are extremely difficult. I recommend this game to all, especially avid readers.
This app misses the point
I’m struggling with this app.... I welcome the literary input into the sea of Apple Arcade mediocrity, but I was responding to more challenging questions when I took my o-levels & GCSE’s. Switching words does not aid comprehension. If the app welcomes more to reading, then awesome. Cant hep but think the experience would be SUBSTANTIALLY improved if the reader picked up a book & read it.
Whole book?
Adding the complete whole book instead of only small portions would be amazing
My favorite game
Dear Reader combines mostly classic literature with contemporary technology in a delightfully entertaining way. The different game types add to the fun of “reading” books that, as a busy adult, I would not have time to sit down and actually read. I enjoy the daily challenges and research quests, and appreciate the ability to change the difficulty. The variety of books is quite substantial and I feel as if I am not wasting as much time as when I play other games.
Doesn’t work
Impossible to get out of the bookstore and back to the game
Would have been 5 stars if could choose new books
This is a fun game especially if you are a bit of a bookworm. You can do the puzzles on books you read ages ago or others of which you may want a flavour and then read. I have been hooked. But my big bug bear (and hence not the 5 stars) is that you have to wait for new bookshelves on Monday and Thursday and they are not often with books of interest or they have books you have already completed in the game. Why not allow people to get books from the catalog if they have the ink? This is frustrating and will end up me dropping from the game as waiting for two specific days and then not getting a good choice is off putting. Would be good if developers were to fix this.
Deleted my progress
It was fine, until it deleted all my progress, all my library, and stuck my back reading the soporific drawl that is “Pride and Prejudice”. How do I get my library back now? I’d “bought” books I was interested in reading, and now they’re no longer available to me. So, what, I have to wait until they come up in the store again? Thanks for nothing.
Fix the typography!
This isn’t the sort of game that I would normally play, and I found myself getting annoyed pretty quickly. But the inexcusable failure of not using proper quotation marks - curly typographer’s quotes rather than straight computer quotes - is what drew me to ragequit and write this review.
Awesome
Splendid 💯💯💯💯
I don’t see the point. I’m not playing a game, I’m filling in lines!
This hardly seems like a puzzle game as there is nothing to solve. I am merely moving words to fit the sentence that’s been left blank. There’s nothing novel or fun about this. If it was like supernaughts, and there were other phrases that could change the narrative, that would be awesome. But this feels too much like school homework!
Good game, but
Dear devs I’d more than happy to see at least built-in Oxford dictionary as it preinstalled on Idevices. Obviously not everyone speaks literary English well who plays with this puzzle around the world. In the other hand it is very nice, good-looking and quality puzzle game.
Unplayable
I can’t even get past the title screen.
Like the premise
I like the premise of the game especially as an educational game for kids, but I have to admit after about 10 minutes it really starts to feel like you’re doing homework. personally, I love to read (which is why I tried the game) so I feel like it might be more fun just to go read the book, but I like the idea of gamifying reading for those who might not read on their own.
YES, but…
Amazing game, but pleaase take off Apple Arcade, I would buy in a heartbeat, so many others too. Maybe add a few free books for new players to feel it out too. Regardless, amazing concept for a game, helped got me back into reading.
I was quite enjoying this...
...until I opened the app today and found that it had suddenly deleted all my progress and sent me back the the tutorial, with all my scores zeroed and all my hard-earned books now locked again. Game-breaking, depressing. Avoid.
Brilliant
Where has this app been all my life? I LOVE it!! But as others have said it uses LOTS of battery. I have now completed all the books I know and would love to see more Shakespeare plays as would be great for fun exam revision!
Lost all offline progress
Good game. But I’ve played a lot being offline on the flight, then when I’ve connected to the internet all the progress was lost.
Makes my phone boil
So this game is absolutely amazing, but one problem I have is it makes my phone heat up, and I have a relatively new iPhone model (XR) so I feel like it shouldn’t happen but other wise I’ll be recommending the game!
Dear Reader FAQ
- Is Dear Reader free?
- Yes. The app is free, in all 171 countries it sells in, and it sells nothing inside it.
- Does Dear Reader have a free trial?
- No. None of its offers (US) come with a free trial.
- What are the best alternatives to Dear Reader?
- Crossword Jam+ (4.8 from 31,368 reviews), tint. (4.7 from 17,995 reviews) and Words of Wonders: Search+ (4.9 from 14,625 reviews).
Dear Reader download
Last updated 1 month ago.
Dear Reader sells in 171 countries. It was released 7 years and 1 month ago, on 19 Sept 2019. It holds a 4.6 rating from 1,271 reviews.
Supports 1 language: English.
How much does Dear Reader make?
Third-party estimates for the last 30 days, worldwide — not the store's own figures, which Apple publishes for nobody.