Last updated on January 17th, 2026 at 12:29 am
Marple – Puzzle Game Review
Marple is a Puzzle/Strategy game from Mikko Kankainen, first launched in 12th February 2019.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 48+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Marple Stand Out
AWARDED "BEST PUZZLER" IN MACWORLD'S "THE BEST GAMES OF 2008"!
NOMINEE FOR "BEST PUZZLE GAME" IN "2008 BEST APP EVER AWARDS"!
RATED "BETTER" IN APPREVIEW!
Getting tired of Sudoku? Why not try Marple?
Marple is a game of logic and deduction. The playing field consists of 20 tiles arranged in 4 rows of 5 columns each and a set of clues. The goal of the game is to figure out the correct order of those 20 tiles using the given clues by process of elimination.
There are four different types of clues: "In between", "Left of", "Same column" and "Next to". "In between" clue tells that the middle tile has to be located in between the other two. It however does not tell the order of the other two tiles or how far they are from the middle one. "Left of" clue tells that the left tile has to be located left of the right tile. It however does not tell how far apart they are. "Same column" clue tells that the two tiles have to be on the same column. "Next to" clue tells that the two tiles are adjacent to each other. It however does not tell the order of the two tiles.
Features:
- 1,000,000 fiendishly clever puzzles to play so don't expect to run out of them any time soon! At 3 minutes / puzzle, 1 hour / day = ca. 137 years of puzzles!
- Tutorial mode
- Hint system that highlights a clue that you should be concentrating on next and also explains exactly what you should be doing next.
- Graphical help with beginner tips
This Puzzle game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Marple is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 6th January 2020
Recent improvements include:
Bug fixes
Download & Availability
Marple is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Ive played this game for 8 years now, and probably do a 5 minute game every morning over coffee. We still find the puzzles (and their logic) beautiful. Get Marple, spend 5 minutes learning how to play it, and enjoy it every time you open it.
Engaging with high replay value.
Ive been playing this on and off for years. Ill play it for a month non-stop then come back to it in a year and its still fantastic.
The orange provides little contrast. We really wish developers would update with improved colors.
Great little game of logic, deduction, process of elimination.
This latest update has messed up the display so that in landscape mode the right side of the play area is off screen and the buttons block the bottom row of clues or in portrait mode the buttons cover the bottom clues. Please remedy this. Love this game and have played it for years, since iPhone 3 days. This is on iPad Pro 9.7" (MLMV2LL/A).
The display does not show the cards completely making it very difficult to see. Please fix. This was a five star app until display issues arose.
The game can't be played because all the buttons can't be seen. Wish we hadn't updated.
We have played this game for many many years. Many games have gotten deleted but this one is great fun and one of our go to games to play.
We love the Einsteins Riddle / Zebra Puzzle games. Marple is still our all-time favorite. Thanks.
Why dont more people know about this game? Its one of the best. Please make an iPAD version.
Ive been playing this game off and on since 2008. We keep coming back to it as a way to occupy a few to a lot of minutes.
This game has a learning curve, but once you learn all the techniques it is enjoyable game after game. Its a classic puzzle game that we've been playing for years.
A great One more game app. Ive really loved logic games for the last 20 years and this one is a nice mix of new elements. That said, once you know the rules its relatively simple so its far more about being observant than thinking things throughbut we still enjoy the test of our ability to notice what next step we need to take.
One of the first we ever downloaded and still the best.
Ive been playing this app since the iPhone 3G was released, and we will always have it on any iOS device we own. A simple, classic, fun game. Good brain exercise without being stressful. For us, its a must-have game.
Very fun game if you can overcome the steep learning curve. Would be 100x better if all the fonts were changed to Helvetica.
We have had this game probably almost 10 years. Love the logic to and still recommend all these years later.
Puzzle 231 had a serious error. We took a screenshot for you but cant send it in the review.
This app seems pretty old, but its definitely not as old as the game its based on. Everett Kaser software created a game far too similar to this one in 1991 Sherlock. Even the names are too similar. Ill try this game out to see if its original at all but winning awards in 2008 for a game created almost 20 years earlier doesnt sit well with us.
Other games come and go, but Marple has consistently been in our "playlist" since the day we downloaded it. Complex when you first start, but simple when you get the hang of it; Marple is simply a great puzzle game.
This is one of our most favorite games! We keep trying to get a better time each time we play! It is very entertaining and makes us really think about what to do next. Thanks for a wonderful game.
We love Marple! The difficulty is just about right for us, now that we're used to the game. There's a bit of a learning curve, even for users who have played other logic puzzle games. We like the fact that if we make a mistake, we don't lose the game; it counts as a warning and the message displayed is a gentle "we wouldn't do that if we were you". The colors are bright and cheerful without being hard on the eyes, and all the pieces are different shapes so if you are color blind it shouldn't matter. Highly recommended.
If you enjoy a logic challenge, in which zero guessing and zero chance is involved, give Marple a go. At first glance it appears overwhelming, but a quick study of the App website tutorial and you will be attacking the puzzle in no time. Our first go at it too over 30 minutes to reach the full solution. Our second took 17 minutes and our speed continues to improve. Another fun facet of this puzzle is that when others watch you solving it they will be amazed since it will be totally cryptic to them. Get ready for compliments about what a genius you are. Parents can astound their teens this, showing them that you do in fact have an IQ. Wonderful game. Two thumbs up.
We've had it for a while. It doesn't get old.
Very fun! Only thing is, we find the challenge puzzles to be easier than the classic puzzles… Not sure how that works lol.
We spend some time daily playing this game! Wish the numbers and dice were different, some new pics might be fun too, but otherwise its awesome.
This game is excellent for those who like logic puzzles, suduko, deduction, and plain old fun. We get about an app a day and this is the one app played more than any other. Ideas for improvements would to have some new skins for the die pips (animal outlines perhaps) and possibly have some other leader boards. A leader board for the day, a leader board for the week would both be nice in our house. We are all competing with each other for best times but now the good times are so good they are impossible to meet. Our best time is one minute thirty seconds with no guessing.
We can't stop. We think we've spent more time playing this than we've spent at work since we got it months ago.
Be prepared to spend A LOT of time on this one…it's very addictive! It took some time to figure out. It's not one that you can pick up and just start playing. However, that's part of the appeal for us. This game is challenging, fun, and shows creativity and ingenuity on the developers' part.
We love this game! We think it was created just for us. It seems a bit overwhelming at first, but once you understand what the clues mean it is tons of fun! Our 10 year-old daughter loves this (and she's really good at it), our husband took one look and said his brain doesn't work that way (and he's one of the smartest people we know). If you like logic type puzzles, this will be right up your alley. If logic isn't your thing, this probably won't be either. Our one and only complaint is that the puzzles get tiresome after a while. We wish there was a little more to the game. Even with that said, it went in our favorites folder after one puzzle. Love this super-unique game.
Great game if you like logic games. We wish they had harder levels.
We are so addicted to this game! This is a game that exercises your brain and gives you that sense of accomplishment when you've played a good game.
This game does not have flashy bells and whistles, no Facebook invite system or in-game currencies. It's just a straight puzzler with unique rules that challenge you and give you a rewarding feeling when you succeed. A+ game.
This is a fantastic game of logic and deduction. It makes a great change of pace for those who would like to take a break from Sudoku, yet continue challenging those little gray cells. Absolutely addictive.
One of the first apps we bought to replace Sherlock on our PC. Still our go to fix for doing logic puzzles. Well designed, well explained, well done.
This game reminds us a bit of an old computer game called "Shelock" that our daughters and we loved. This one is great, as well, and is perfect for those times when we have a few minutes to kill. We can play for a little while, and then exit the game. When we bring it back up, we can resume where we left off. This app is a must for anyone who loves logic puzzles.
This is our favorite game to play. It never gets old. We've had the app for over 2 years and we still play daily.
Excellent deductive logic game! Reminiscent of the old Sherlock and Moriarty games on PC.
This was one of the first apps that we bought several years ago, and it sitll stands up as one of the best puzzler games that we've seen. The game really requires careful, logical thinking, and we use it on occasion to get our brain going in the morning.
We love this game but the options/settings don't work. We've tried to turn off warnings; hide the timer etc but it doesn't do anything.
Unique and enjoyable game. After you master the strategies, it does start to feel repetitive. Harder (or just different) modes would be cool to have.
Love this app but now won't open! Please fix! ASAP.
Crashing too, used to be able to turn iPad off and back on for it to work again, but that stopped working too. Please update, stat! We miss our Marple!!! {;D.
This game is addicting! We love to play. We find ourselves playing over and over trying to beat our own record. Challenging and fun. Bought the free lite version first to learn how to play…definitely worth the money.
We love this game. It is one of the few that makes the cut to stay on our iTouch, and not many do. It's just challenging enough to be interesting, but simple enough that we can use it to zone a bit.
It now crashes as soon as it opens. Wasn't doing that this morning. Love the game… If we could play it.
Everytime app opens it crashes. Never did this before.
Love this game, going for a sub-minute time. Where is that gold coin??? :).
Fun puzzles, challenging enough to keep you entertained.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 2.2.11
- Size: 5.53 MB
- iOS: 8.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: Mikko Kankainen
Last updated: 6th January 2020 | Genre: Puzzle, Strategy | Developer: Mikko Kankainen