The Almanac Reviews

The latest update is pretty disappointing. The landing page is much harder to navigate and lacks any sort of visual hierarchy. I was working through all available puzzles since January for both hard and standard modes, and the calendar to navigate that progress is now gone. I also dislike the reorganization of several of the puzzle types changing to what were previously “infinite” puzzles (that I didn’t care to play). Will probably be canceling my premium and uninstalling. Just so confused about the logic behind these changes.

I recently got a new iPhone and since I previously had a subscription, I expected to be able to restore my purchase. This was not the case, it continues to say restoring failed. I really enjoy the game, but one other thing is how the give you a tutorial with additional puzzle modes that are then not in the full games. Additionally they stopped putting in extra challenges. Why am I paying a subscription and then all of the sudden you put less effort into TheAlmanac . For this reason it’s a one star, if the issues are resolved I’d be happy to rate TheAlmanac 5 stars. Please fix this

In the past i would have given TheAlmanac a 4 or 5 star rating. But they now have ads everywhere. When you finish a game, the only option is to either watch and ad or subscribe for $25 a year. What a pain! Not only that, but if you start a game, but go back out of it for a moment, it resets your entire progress on the game. Not sure about this game is headed. I actually don’t mind paying for games. Either a one time cost or a subscription. But when they originally set up it up - you could play the daily games for free and then IF you want to play more games, you just had to watch ads to do so. (Or subscribe). I had not issue with that. In fact, many days, when I had extra time, I would watch a LOT of ads to play more of the games. Win for me. And a Win for the developers. But now, if I only have a minute or two of free time - I’m still stuck watching ads.

Here it was watch an ad to play each hard game or each game form another day you didn’t do. Now if you were in the middle of a game form another day you have to watch an add to unlock all games even if you only bad one left. You’re also forced to watch an ad after every game you play now. It’s just greedy and ridiculous… no need to have people spend more time watching ads than playing the games. Would have been 4.5 stars before but now definitely not.

I got sucked into these awesome puzzle games a few months ago and I loved the variety and options available. I could jump in and play the 5 main games real quick, watch an ad to play the advanced versions, and play the bonus games if I had the time. Then about 2 weeks ago, they made every game as-dependent. And not just a quick 5-second ad, these are 30-60 seconds that you can’t bypass. I’ve opted out of playing regularly because it’s ridiculous to have to sit through those ads for every single game. Bummer.

I loved this game so much, it was so fun to play. I didn’t mind watching an ad to unlock past content, but now getting an ad after every game you complete, even for the dailies?? That ruined it for me. I love getting to choose to watch ads to support people and the things I love, and I understand needing money for upkeep, but the ads are no longer something to do for extra fun, it’s mandatory for even the basic daily stuff. That killed my want to buy the ad-free subscription since it feels like my hand is being forced to have any sort of daily fun.

I think these games are great, and TheAlmanac looks really nice. There are some major problems. One is that the fee to remove the ad Wall is $25, which is pretty extra extravagant for a small puzzle game like this, however they do have an archive of puzzles that you can play. The problem with the archive however, is that they are sometimes re-using the same puzzles, and the archive only goes back a couple months, even though TheAlmanac has been around for 4+ years? That doesn’t make any sense. I really hope they will update TheAlmanac , bring back the Sets game (in addition to Pipes, which is also great), and extend the archive. Another solution is to just go with the more advanced puzzles as a standard, which would be nice. Currently they are only available as “extra challenge,”and you maybe get one a day, although this isn’t guaranteed. These are the best because the basic puzzles become pretty easy to solve after a few reps. I can solve most of them in 30-60seconds.

Constant updates have been nice and refreshing, but the latest update makes you now watch an add between each normal activity. These can be done in 30 seconds and I have to watch an add for at least the same amount of time. 50% add time is too much. I know I should just subscribe to TheAlmanac , but I’m subscribed out with everything else. Unfortunate choice by devs.

Not sure why Tower was removed but it wasn’t too difficult to narrow down the colors.
Some times it gets tricky with double colors but that was all part of the game of deduction.
Please have it pop back in every now and then.
It’s one less game to sharpen the mind now.
I think those that found it difficult didn’t think the game could have double colors and didn’t fully utulize the circles that state what’s correct or right color, wrong place.

The daily game(s) are neither too easy not too complex, just having right balance.
Takes about 5-20 min to finish all. They occasionally test new games which is good too. (I’m glad more luck based Tower is out since before calculations trigger, it involved setting baseline.)
I don’t mind the ad experience to allow playing previous day puzzles.

These are few suggestions:
1. Either create multi level ad wall;i.e. watch 10s ad to play one game or 30s one to play all 4/5. This can increase customer experience.
2. The monthly subscription either does not work or does not exist. In app store it says monthly and yearly option but inside app( checked in iOS) only yearly option is there.
3. Games differ between platform and devices i.e. ipad to iphone etc. The experience should be seamless and i should be able to pick up from same place in other device.

This is a great set of mental challenges that I love to start my day with. As such, I thought it was reasonable to support the developer with a little cash. However, a few weeks after paying for a year (the only option) they removed the daily challenge and took out Tower entirely. I get that they might want to rotate games out, but eliminating two of the six daily games after taking money for a year feels pretty slimy. If you haven’t gotten the paid version yet, don’t get it until they decide to honor the player’s money.

Whenever I want to leave a game I just finished (and I dont want to play the next game offering and playing previous days isnt an option because Ive already done them all) its annoying that there isnt an X button that goes to home. I have to close my app and reopen it. Also, letting players play previous games gives it that continuous gameplay that I personally find the most appealing thanks to my dopamine addiction. Not a ton of ads thanks to them only being activated when I want something! Good game, some issues that arent too big of bothers, both to fix and deal with.

I don’t normally leave reviews, but there’s just something about TheAlmanac that needs to be said. I love these games and I like taking a break from my day to play them. All but one. All except Tower. Tower is ridiculously impossible and gives no ACTUAL clue as to how to solve. You think it’s one color, and you spend 7 guesses thinking red is in the second spot - then you find out, no, red is NOT in the second spot, and you have one guess left to decode the thing. Frustrating, especially because I am a completionist and LOVE the rest of TheAlmanac. PLEASE add another hint, like an X for colors excluded from the puzzle.

I loved TheAlmanac, but today TheAlmanac updated(?) and instead of Sets, I had the Pipes puzzle, which is also good, but Sets was my favorite. I know the devs are doing some A/B testing with those two puzzles, but I don’t see why we can’t just have both? They’re both really well made and polished.

Idk man, at least just let ME have my Sets back lol, was genuinely heartbroken to see it gone 💔

The games themselves are great. Entertaining, and you can play the current day’s games for free. I found them fun enough to play the historic ones, which are behind an ad wall. That’s fine, but the ad wall is buggy and requires many clicks to get through. I generally don’t mind paying for ad free, but the fee is kind of expensive for what you get

The games are really fun and I love the addition of hard mode. My whole family is obsessed with TheAlmanac. Two things I would really like are:
1. An easier way to share scores with my family. This could be like a way to add friends in TheAlmanac or a share button that sends a text.
2. I would like if the 4 daily games were randomized from the pool of infinite games and the ones already there.

i LOVE this game—everything about it is amazing. subscription prices and everything included? 100% fair. I haven't subscribed yet, but plan to. Before doing so, I've been dying to play more mambo; it's my favorite! Only problem, i can't find any games like it. Is this something you guys made, or something that's already existed? Please let me know ASAP, love ur game!!!

This is a really great game overall. I love all the little games, not too hard and not too easy. Just found out there used to be a sets game? But I opened it today to find out that Tower is now gone too :( and I really enjoyed that one. I also love the little extra challenge that is bigger and harder than the daily ones. Ads are a little tedious but worth it. Hopefully we can have more games at the same time in the future.

Ever since I downloaded this, doing these puzzles has become part of my routine. I always look forward for the next day when I can do them again! I was a little disappointed when I got on and tower was gone, but still regularly enjoy all of the others

I was originally nervous as TheAlmanac doesn’t have many reviews yet, and I almost never get apps based on ads. However I risked it and I’m glad I did. TheAlmanac is extremely well designed. The puzzles are fun and well thought out. 10/10 app