Baba Is You vs Royal Match
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Baba Is You is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.4. Baba Is You wins on 3 of the 5 scores, Royal Match on 2.
Puzzle fans who love the moment a hard problem suddenly clicks
Match-3 fans who want a polished game without ad breaks
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Baba Is You | Royal Match |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Puzzle & Word Games | Puzzle & Word Games |
| Category rank | #1 of 12 | #4 of 12 |
| Developer | Hempuli | Dream Games |
| Pricing | Paid | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | No | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | — |
| Windows | ✓ | — |
| Linux | ✓ | — |
Common questions
Is Baba Is You better than Royal Match?
Baba Is You is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 8.4. Baba Is You wins on 3 of the 5 scores, Royal Match on 2.
Which is cheaper, Baba Is You or Royal Match?
Baba Is You: $6.99 on the App Store and Google Play, with no in-app purchases. Royal Match: Free to play; coin packs and offers from $0.99, plus a $9.99 Royal Pass. On value for money, Baba Is You scores higher.
Do Baba Is You and Royal Match work on the same devices?
Only Baba Is You runs on Windows, Mac, Linux.
Which is more private, Baba Is You or Royal Match?
Baba Is You scores higher on privacy (9.8/10). App Store label: Data Not Collected. The developer says the app collects no data at all, so nothing is used to track you or linked to your identity.
Strengths and weaknesses
Baba Is You
- A fresh idea that keeps surprising you level after level
- One price, with no ads and no in-app purchases
- Collects no data at all, per its App Store label
- Hard puzzles can leave you stuck for a long time
- Simple pixel art won't wow you
Baba Is You is the puzzle game that rewires how you think. Each level's rules sit on the board as word blocks you can push around, so a few shoves can turn you into a rock, make grass dangerously hot or move the goal somewhere else entirely. The best solutions feel like cheats you found yourself. It's tough and the pixel art is plain, but few games make you feel this clever.
Full Baba Is You review
Royal Match
- No ads at all, even for rewards
- Smooth, polished boards and power-up combos
- A steady stream of new levels and events
- Coin offers and passes push hard on tough levels
- Purchase data and identifiers are used for tracking
Royal Match is the slickest match-3 game around and, unusually, it shows no ads. Levels are well tuned, boosters chain together in satisfying ways, and 100 new levels land about every two weeks while you rebuild King Robert's castle. Lives and coin offers still nudge you to pay when a hard level stalls you, and some purchase data is used for tracking. If you want match-3 without the clutter, start here.
Full Royal Match review
