“The game is AWESOME and it's good for minds for skill and good entertainment, its also a very fun puzzle game, but the only flaw is that if you get on it usually spams pop up ads at you for updates or stuff, but in all honesty it's a…”
Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 991 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-07.
4.6 ★2,580,596 ratings
50M+Downloads
17+Age rating
956 MBApp size
Free · In-app purchasesIn-app purchases
About this app
Best Fiends does not require payment to download and play, but it also allows you to purchase virtual items with real money inside the game, including random items.
Match your way through more than 10 000 levels of fun with new adventures at every turn! Solve challenging puzzles to advance ever closer to Mount Boom and discover the secrets that lie within. Experience match 3 games like never before: draw lines over matching items to create huge combos and unlock tons of fun rewards!
Collect over 50 cute characters, all with their own special powers! Evolve your characters as you progress through each challenge. Build a team of adorable creatures and make your way through fun puzzles as you discover the magical world of Minutia! Amazing storylines and fun adventures await you in the delightful, original BEST FIENDS game!…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
The evidence behind this assessment
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
App Store
This analysis describes version 19.5.3 of the app, analyzed 2026-10-07 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 19.5.3, updated 2026-09-22.
Google Play
This analysis describes version 19.5.4 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-06 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 19.5.4, updated 2026-09-29.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States a price and a billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Says how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
2 themes reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
80–89% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
From the package we downloaded and read — version 19.5.4, scanned 2026-09-30.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
None requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
3 or more found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
10 or more found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
The catch list 1
Charges we publish at a strength we stand behind: measured from an artefact, agreed by independent sources, or reported by enough users to clear that charge's own published bar.
Multiple ad networks bundled
The package embeds several distinct advertising or mediation SDKs — a stack built for ad volume, not for a single house ad.
What we saw: Bundles 16 distinct ad networks / mediation SDKs: Amazon Publisher Services, AppLovin MAX, BidMachine, Chartboost and 12 more
Positive evidence 1
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
One source only — shown, not confirmed 3
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
Reported by users: Aggressive ad load
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Aggressive ad load: raised by 16 distinct reviewers (3.1% of 516 reviews scanned)
From the store listing: Loot boxes with no stated odds
The app sells randomised rewards — crates, chests, packs, pulls — and states no drop rates or odds anywhere in its own text, so what the money buys is unknowable before paying.
What we saw: The store lists 3 randomised-reward purchases ("Gold Pack", "Gold Pack", "Gold Pack") and the app's own text states no drop rates or odds
Reported by users: Pay to progress
Advancement or competition is gated behind spending money rather than playing.
What we saw: Pay to progress: raised by 5 distinct reviewers (1.0% of 516 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Love this game, play it all the time but I agree, less pop up ads when you start up the game. Like I have bought stuff and all but not because of the ads. I really like the game. But I was trying to get on and play once and it took nearly…”
“I played it for a while, got 200 levels in, the underlying game is sort of fun but the internal ads got too much. one day after turning the game on and after 2 minutes of ad after ad for features within the game, upgrades I could buy…”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 19.5.3.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown10
Lowest$1.99
Highest$9.99
Super Bundle$4.99
Gold Pack$1.99
Gold Pack$2.99
Amazing Bundle$9.99
Gold Pack$4.99
Show 5 more purchases
Super Bundle$3.99
Super Bundle$5.99
Super Offer$2.99
Super Offer$1.99
Flash Sale$6.99
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.