Cryptogram Tale
Unravel the hidden story!
How much does Cryptogram Tale cost?
Prices are current as of 27 Sept 2026.
3 one-time purchases from $0.99
In the United States, Cryptogram Tale has 3 one-time purchases priced $0.99 – 9.99.
| Product | Price |
|---|---|
| Get 30 Hints | $0.99 |
| Get 70 Hints | $1.99 |
| Remove Ads | $9.99 |
10+ alternatives to Cryptogram Tale
| Cryptogram Tale |   Red Herring |   Word Association! |   Cipher Master - Word Game |   Cryptogram · Cryptoquote Game |   Alpha Omega |   The Guides Axiom |   Hard Penny Dell Logic Puzzles |   Figure it - Cryptogram Puzzle |   Word Code - Cryptogram Puzzle |   Cryptogram: Word Puzzle Master | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating / 5 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Reviews | 2K | 55K | 9.2K | 8.8K | 8.5K | 7.1K | 4.2K | 3.8K | 1.9K | 1.8K | 1.1K |
| Released | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2023 | 2014 | 2015 | 2017 | 2014 | 2022 | 2025 | 2024 |
| One-time price | $1.99 | $1.99 | $0.99 | — | — | $0.99 | $2.99 | $3.99 | $4.99 | $2.99 | $5.99 |
The going rate for each plan in United States, in its own currency, shaded from the cheapest price on the row to the dearest.
Cryptogram Tale reviews
4.6 out of 5, based on 2,020 reviews.
What people like
- Stories reveal themselves as you play.
- Great for brain training.
- Includes classic literature stories.
- Interface is easy to use.
What they complain about
- Ads are impossible to close.
- Constant ads ruin the fun.
- App crashes and freezes often.
- Progress gets lost or deleted.
Would give it TEN stars if I could
It's a great game, and I have happily paid to get rid of the ads. Other than a very occasional typo, I'm finding the stories a real treat and am practically addicted to this app. So much fun, so easy to use. It's an A+ super-terrific wonderful wonderful game. And they keep adding more stories! Love love love it.
Racist content
This game has stories containing incredibly racist content. Please be aware of that before downloading.
So fun!
Challenging, brain-building, and satisfying.
Started out great…
The app started out great. It was a fun way to pass the time. The tales are interesting. They aren’t impossibly hard to solve. Earning hints was easy (just watch an ad or two). But the last couple of days I’ve not been able to earn any hints because of the placement of the close button on the ads. I play on my phone and the close button is in the upper right hand corner. It’s happened quite a few times before. I would simply close the app, reopen it, and watch a different video. But like I said, for the last couple of days, the only videos I get are ones with the close button where I can’t click it. It’s been at least a year since the last update, so I’m not hopeful about getting another one soon enough to solve this issue. I’d rate this higher if I could properly utilize all of the features
Addictive
I love cryptograms, so to do entire stories is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, lots of the “classic” stories are becoming more disturbing/offensive as I move from one to the next, and I feel that I’m usually pretty gracious with others’ taste. I do believe that good literature should make people think, but after so many of these stories, I’m really starting to wonder who selects them. There are so many stories, which is super cool, but I’m starting to lose interest due to the selection. I wish there was more variety.
Thanks!
I just love this game! My favorites are the long tales. Delighted to see more added recently, and the iCloud sync is an awesome surprise. Please keep the stories coming.
broken
sadly this game seem very fun, but there is no “story” at the top. i can not play because there is no hints of what even the topic is
Favorite Game but Those Crashes!!
Only game I play that first freezes, then crashes my iPhone 15 Pro, impervious to repeated manual attempts to reboot. The whole freeze, lock, crash, restart process takes 10-15 minutes to complete, and happens at minimum twice a day. Bad enough that it’s so annoying, but killing my time and my phone is wearing me out. To reiterate, I have had no other game in the years I’ve used mobile apps, cause this issue. Please address, help, fix so I can go back to the 5 Star Joy this game has given me.
Ads
When did they add ads to this? The ads keep showing up after evey line. Its making it unplayable. And why is it $5 to get rid of ads? I used to like this game but now its just sad.
Ads don’t work
This game falls into the cash trap of “we can’t load ads even if you have great internet”. This happens some times in other mobile games too.
The Best
This is the best cryptogram puzzle out there! Long tales, short tales, poems and more. A fun way to renew your acquaintance with old favorites or to read a classic you might have missed. No glitches, no annoying ads, just smooth playing. My favorite pastime!
WAY too difficult
Even on “normal” level, you need NUMEROUS hints to complete each puzzle. It’s not even remotely enjoyable.
Great Way to learn As You Solve
I really enjoy this. The level of difficulty is not to bad. The only thing that I would maybe consider is that the space between the letters gets confusing. This may be part of the puzzle though. If that’s the case then it makes sense why it can be confusing at first. I really enjoy the story and how it keeps going as you finish each puzzle. I love science and space. I don’t want to give away spoilers. The story is very good and is based on non fiction. It’s not some stupid 3 in a row junk. That’s all any of the other puzzles or games have lost value. Even for the younger kids this is a great way to learn how to solve , read, write, and figure out how sentences are written or the correct way to use English, punctuation, spelling. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to do any of the above things I mentioned for any of the reasons. Also a great way to brush up on some basic and strategic thinking.
I’m so upset :(
I’ve taken quite a liking to the game, and have been playing it quite a bit at night. Yet recently, all of my progress had been deleted. I was heartbroken that everything had reset after the effort that I had put in. I had almost completed another story too :( The story’s are so intriguing, although many I’ve played are quite dark. The mechanics are wonderful, and are easy to use and understand. Truly, the only reason my review had been placed at 2 stars was because of all of my progress deleting. I hope this can be fixed and that this doesn’t happen in the future :(
Has some issues
It’s a cool idea and worth checking out, but it’s not as well made as I’d like. The keyboard should open when you select a letter. The default font is poorly rendered – I suggest switching fonts if that bothers you. There is no “undo” button, which would be very useful. The fact that capitalized words are revealed, but only after you enter the first letter, is a bit weird. Worst though – the stories aren’t consistently well-suited to be cryptograms. I’ve run into several problems already playing the first story on the hardest mode: There was a name with a middle initial that didn’t appear elsewhere in the segment, so there’s no way to figure that out other than guessing letters one by one. Long conversations make the segments too easy because of the repeated phrases like “said the orderly.” The story has a long list of made-up slang terms, which made several segments near impossible, because they had no common words and few real words.
Love this game
Updates with more stories, easy to use and play
Ads do not honor sound settings
I would have considered giving this game 5 stars except that the ads do not honor sound settings. When I don’t want sound, I don’t want sound.
SCW crypto Tales
This harder than most one liners and you want to read the hole thing. It keeps you going. It also does not show wrong letters so you have to work it over to figure it out.
Not beginner friendly
I’ve never done a cryptogram before, and I think there should have been a better introduction to the different ciphers, there should also tell what cipher it is as a hint,
Shame about the American English
This makes it harder for those who spell words the correct way.
Painstaking Story Reading
I love this app. Solving cryptograms while reading classic literature. It forces me to pay attention to how the masters honed their craft. Excellent entertainment across multiple genres!
My game is frozen.
This is my favorite game. But it is frozen and I’m in th middle of war of the worlds.
A favorite
Sometimes I need a hint and the ad won't go away after the 30 seconds. Tap the x; it shows me the App Store.Lost many hints this way
Ads
The game itself is great, I love it, but after every single section of a puzzle, there's an ad. My annoyance with the constant ads outweigh my interest in the game
Just deleted all of my progress 🤬
Yesterday, I would have given this game 5 stars, or honestly more if the rating system allowed. I play this nightly. I’ve finished nearly 20 stories and love getting to read all of these books that I never would have picked up on my own. The added puzzle element is a fun addition. However, when I opened the app this evening, all of my progress was lost. According to the game, I haven’t done a single sentence of a single story. I am incredibly disappointed.
Awesome game
It's a great way to wind down at night or to pass a little bit of time. I love that theres an ongoing story with it. It really sets it apart from other games like it
Nowhere to start
Why is there no free letter to start you out? You’re just throwing a guess out and hoping its right how dumb is that? The newspaper gives you a free letter why don’t you
Great app, no way to report ads
I’m a big fan of this game! However, I keep getting an ad that cannot be closed. I also cannot report this ad anywhere but here. It’s a match-3 fighting game, I forgot the name. It’s very frustrating, to get to the next stage of the cryptogram, one must completely close the app and restart it. :(
Let me close the ads
Could be fun except the ad “x” to close the ad is in an impossible-to-reach position, & I will not be exiting & restarting the app every level because it’s not good enough to be worth it.
Fun but.....
...ads. So many ads...... would give 5 star otherwise
Many hours of entertainment
I am not that into cryptograms, but gradually revealing a story as you decode is really entertaining. My spouse and I spent all evening on the first dystopian story, deciding to buy the full version after 15 minutes, and it boggles my mind how much content is included with this. This is right up there with GeoGuessr for repeat entertainment value.
Super long and frequent ads
Great game but it’s constantly running super long ads. Some of the ads are over 30 seconds long and they appear after every passage is solved and when asking for hints. It seems when you watch an ad for a hint, those ads are annoyingly long. Going to finish the story I’m working on and then deleting this app, the ads just make it unbearable. Also, this app tracks your location (I don’t remember agreeing to it but that’s on me) as it runs super long ads targeted to your area.
Love it but it crashed
This is a great game for those who love crypto puzzles. But it crashed. Had to dump it. Will install again and hope that works. I really like it Later - keeps freezing but I like it so again I’m deleting then reinstalling. Wish they would fix
Too many ads
The amount of ads gets ridiculous pretty quickly.
Makes no sense!
Maybe I’m just not that smart but I can’t make head nor tail of this game! The difficulty doesn’t change at all when I go from easy to hard, there are absolutely no prefacing texts to help you out (as shown in the app store photos), and there seems to be no theme to the letters whatsoever? It just makes nonsense words even with hints.
Reading and solving together!
It’s like reading and solving a puzzle at the same time! The stories are enjoyable to read, the gameplay is fun, the interface is user-friendly. My new favorite game!
Confused
When I play I can’t finish the tape without using up all my hints, and I have no idea what the tale is supposed to be. Classic Tale 1? Not a tale I’m familiar with
Fun, one problem
The only issue I have with this game is that every ad I get is one I can’t close. The little “x” is so tiny and so far up in the corner that it won’t let me hit it. In order to get back to the game, I have to close the app completely, and restart it. This makes it impossible to watch a video for a hint, as well. It’s really frustrating.
Closing ads
I have iPhone XR, and there are some ads I can not close because the X are at the very top corner overlapping the time or power are displayed. So I am forever closing the app and opening it again so I can continue playing. Please look into this and make sure all ads are closable.
Time consuming
Love it relaxing works your brain
Morbid storyline first puzzle
The very first story is draws you in with resolving life’s hardships and then it turns to murder and suicide. There is no good ending besides more of the same. Deleted.
Great game
Most ads I can’t watch because the ‘x’ button is inaccessible and I have to close the app.
Great game!
This game is amazing! You can reveal tantalizing stories that are interesting and impactful, while at the same time training your brain. I love this app!
Trigger warnings?
The puzzles are fine, but it really needs trigger warnings. The first puzzle I got was a really dark Kurt Vonnegut story that ends with a bunch of murder suicides. There was no warning or summary or anything before starting the puzzle. They don’t even tell you the name of the story so you can look it up yourself. This could really mess with someone’s head and hurt someone.
Great!
A fun game, easy and intuitive to use, and just hard enough.
Cryptogram Tale price by country
A one-time purchase costs $1.61 in Israel and $3.12 in Hungary — 1.9× more for the same thing. Below is the going rate for each plan in every country that sells it — the middle price of what the app charges there, in the country's own currency with the dollar equivalent beneath it.
| Country | One-time |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | $1.99 |
| Albania | $1.99 |
| Algeria | $1.99 |
| Angola | $1.99 |
| Anguilla | $1.99 |
| Antigua And Barbuda | $1.99 |
| Argentina | $1.99 |
| Armenia | $1.99 |
| Australia | A$2.99$2.11 |
| Austria | €1.99$2.27 |
| Azerbaijan | $1.99 |
| Bahamas | $1.99 |
| Bahrain | $1.99 |
| Barbados | $1.99 |
| Belarus | $1.99 |
| Belgium | €1.99$2.27 |
| Belize | $1.99 |
| Benin | $1.99 |
| Bermuda | $1.99 |
| Bhutan | $1.99 |
| Bolivia | $1.99 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | €1.99$2.27 |
| Botswana | $1.99 |
| Brazil | R$12.90$2.49 |
| British Virgin Islands | $1.99 |
| Brunei Darussalam | $1.99 |
| Bulgaria | €1.99$2.27 |
| Burkina Faso | $1.99 |
| Cambodia | $1.99 |
| Cameroon | $1.99 |
| Canada | CA$2.99$2.12 |
| Cape Verde | $1.99 |
| Cayman Islands | $1.99 |
| Chad | $1.99 |
| Chile | CLP 1,990$2.07 |
| Colombia | COP 9,900$3.04 |
| Congo | $1.99 |
| Congo, Democratic Republic | $1.99 |
| Costa Rica | $1.99 |
| Cote Divoire | $1.99 |
| Croatia | €1.99$2.27 |
| Cyprus | €1.99$2.27 |
| Czech Republic | CZK 49.00$2.29 |
| Denmark | DKK 19.00$2.90 |
| Dominica | $1.99 |
| Dominican Republic | $1.99 |
| Ecuador | $1.99 |
| Egypt | EGP 99.99$1.93 |
| El Salvador | $1.99 |
| Estonia | €1.99$2.27 |
| Fiji | $1.99 |
| Finland | €1.99$2.27 |
| France | €1.99$2.27 |
| Gabon | $1.99 |
| Gambia | $1.99 |
| Georgia | $1.99 |
| Germany | €1.99$2.27 |
| Ghana | $1.99 |
| Greece | €1.99$2.27 |
| Grenada | $1.99 |
| Guatemala | $1.99 |
| Guinea-bissau | $1.99 |
| Guyana | $1.99 |
| Honduras | $1.99 |
| Hong Kong | HK$18.00$2.30 |
| Hungary | HUF 999$3.12 |
| Iceland | $1.99 |
| India | ₹199.00$2.08 |
| Indonesia | IDR 39,000$2.18 |
| Iraq | $1.99 |
| Ireland | €1.99$2.27 |
| Israel | ₪4.90$1.61 |
| Italy | €1.99$2.27 |
| Jamaica | $1.99 |
| Japan | ¥300$1.91 |
| Jordan | $1.99 |
| Kazakhstan | KZT 999.00$2.25 |
| Kenya | $1.99 |
| Kosovo | €1.99$2.27 |
| Kuwait | $1.99 |
| Kyrgyzstan | $1.99 |
| Lao Peoples Democratic Republic | $1.99 |
| Latvia | €1.99$2.27 |
| Lebanon | $1.99 |
| Liberia | $1.99 |
| Libya | $1.99 |
| Lithuania | €1.99$2.27 |
| Luxembourg | €1.99$2.27 |
| Macao | $1.99 |
| Macedonia | $1.99 |
| Madagascar | $1.99 |
| Malawi | $1.99 |
| Malaysia | MYR 9.90$2.43 |
| Maldives | $1.99 |
| Mali | $1.99 |
| Malta | €1.99$2.27 |
| Mauritania | $1.99 |
| Mauritius | $1.99 |
| Mexico | MX$39.00$2.20 |
| Micronesia | $1.99 |
| Moldova | $1.99 |
| Mongolia | $1.99 |
| Montenegro | €1.99$2.27 |
| Montserrat | $1.99 |
| Morocco | $1.99 |
| Mozambique | $1.99 |
| Myanmar | $1.99 |
| Namibia | $1.99 |
| Nauru | $1.99 |
| Nepal | $1.99 |
| Netherlands | €1.99$2.27 |
| New Zealand | NZ$3.99$2.25 |
| Nicaragua | $1.99 |
| Niger | $1.99 |
| Nigeria | NGN 3,200.00$2.41 |
| Norway | NOK 29.00$3.05 |
| Oman | $1.99 |
| Pakistan | PKR 500$1.81 |
| Palau | $1.99 |
| Panama | $1.99 |
| Papua New Guinea | $1.99 |
| Paraguay | $1.99 |
| Peru | PEN 9.90$2.91 |
| Philippines | ₱129.00$2.06 |
| Poland | PLN 9.99$2.60 |
| Portugal | €1.99$2.27 |
| Qatar | QAR 7.99$2.20 |
| Romania | RON 9.99$2.16 |
| Russia | RUB 199.00$2.36 |
| Rwanda | $1.99 |
| Sao Tome & Principe | $1.99 |
| Saudi Arabia | SAR 9.99$2.66 |
| Senegal | $1.99 |
| Serbia | €1.99$2.27 |
| Seychelles | $1.99 |
| Sierra Leone | $1.99 |
| Singapore | SGD 2.98$2.33 |
| Slovakia | €1.99$2.27 |
| Slovenia | €1.99$2.27 |
| Solomon Islands | $1.99 |
| South Africa | ZAR 39.99$2.45 |
| South Korea | ₩3,300$2.43 |
| Spain | €1.99$2.27 |
| Sri Lanka | $1.99 |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | $1.99 |
| St. Lucia | $1.99 |
| St. Vincent & The Grenadines | $1.99 |
| Suriname | $1.99 |
| Swaziland | $1.99 |
| Sweden | SEK 29.00$2.93 |
| Switzerland | CHF 2.00$2.41 |
| Taiwan | NT$60.00$1.89 |
| Tajikistan | $1.99 |
| Tanzania | TZS 5,900.00$2.22 |
| Thailand | THB 79.00$2.37 |
| Tonga | $1.99 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | $1.99 |
| Tunisia | $1.99 |
| Turkey | TRY 99.99$2.04 |
| Turkmenistan | $1.99 |
| Turks and Caicos | $1.99 |
| Uganda | $1.99 |
| Ukraine | $1.99 |
| United Arab Emirates | AED 7.99$2.18 |
| United Kingdom | £1.99$2.64 |
| United States | $1.99 |
| Uruguay | $1.99 |
| Uzbekistan | $1.99 |
| Vanuatu | $1.99 |
| Venezuela | $1.99 |
| Vietnam | ₫59,000$2.27 |
| Yemen | $1.99 |
| Zambia | $1.99 |
| Zimbabwe | $1.99 |
Cryptogram Tale FAQ
- Is Cryptogram Tale free?
- Yes. The app and its basic features are free, in all 174 countries it sells in. Premium features are paid: they start from $0.99 (US), across 3 one-time purchases.
- Does Cryptogram Tale have a free trial?
- No. None of its offers (US) come with a free trial.
- Where is Cryptogram Tale cheapest?
- A one-time purchase costs ₪4.90 (≈$1.61) in Israel and HUF 999 (≈$3.12) in Hungary, its cheapest and dearest countries.
- What are the best alternatives to Cryptogram Tale?
- Red Herring (4.7 from 54,789 reviews, premium from $1.99), Word Association! (4.6 from 9,167 reviews, premium from $0.99) and Cipher Master - Word Game (4.5 from 8,762 reviews).
Cryptogram Tale download
Last updated 19 days ago.
Cryptogram Tale sells in 174 countries. It was released 11 years and 7 months ago, on 18 Feb 2015. It holds a 4.6 rating from 2,020 reviews.
Supports 1 language: English.
How much does Cryptogram Tale make?
Third-party estimates for the last 30 days, worldwide — not the store's own figures, which Apple publishes for nobody.
Revenue by plan
- One-time 100%
Revenue by country
- United States 85%
- Canada 6%
- United Kingdom 2%
- Australia 1%