Comparison

A Short Tale vs Iced In

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

A Short Tale

Embark on a first-person point-and-click adventure where you shrink to toy size and explore a brother's room. Solve puzzles, collect items, and uncover clues in a charming, nostalgia-inducing environment with trademark humor.

Highlights
  • First-person point and click adventure
  • Toy-sized room exploration
  • Charming and nostalgic environment
  • Humorous puzzles
  • Glitch Camera for clues
  • Item collection and usage
  • Auto-save feature
Features
Read full description

"For anyone who just wants to play a game chock-full of fun and unusual puzzles while exploring a charming and nostalgia-inducing environment, A Short Tale provides plenty of entertainment for a few hours." – AdventureGamers Shrink down and experience a childhood bedroom like never before in this heartwarming first-person point-and-click puzzle adventure. Years after losing his younger brother Ben, Jason returns to the place where everything changed forever. Drawn back by a mysterious presence, he makes one impossible wish—to be small again. Suddenly, an ordinary bedroom becomes a vast world filled with towering furniture, hidden secrets, clever puzzles, and unforgettable memories. Explore every corner, collect useful items, uncover hidden clues, and solve challenging escape room-style puzzles as you unravel an emotional story about family, loss, and growing up. If you enjoy point-and-click adventures, escape room games, hidden object puzzles, and story-rich mystery games, A Short Tale is for you. Features • Immersive first-person point-and-click adventure. • Explore a giant bedroom from a tiny perspective. • Solve clever puzzles and escape room-inspired challenges. • Collect items, discover hidden clues, and unlock new areas. • Use the unique Glitch Camera to reveal secrets and keep track of clues. • Emotional story filled with nostalgia, mystery, and discovery. • Beautiful atmospheric soundtrack. • Signature Glitch Games humour. • Auto-save ensures you never lose your progress. • No ads or in-app purchases. Can you uncover the memories hidden within a room that once felt like home? – Glitch Games is a small independent game studio from the UK, creating premium mystery, escape room, and puzzle adventure games that players around the world love. Follow us for updates, news, and behind-the-scenes content: Discord: discord.gg/glitchgames Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlitchGames/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glitch.games Newsletter: https://glitch.games/newsletter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theglitchgames/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GlitchGames

About

Iced In

Navigate frozen landscapes by strategically sliding ice blocks to solve puzzles and rescue stranded penguins. This adventure game features clever mechanics where every move counts, with 50 handcrafted challenges that increase in difficulty.

Highlights
  • Slide ice blocks to solve puzzles
  • Rescue trapped penguins
  • 50 handcrafted levels
  • Clever movement mechanics
  • Intuitive controls
Features
Read full description

Guide a determined explorer across frozen lakes and snowy terrain in a puzzle adventure built around clever movement and careful planning. Slide blocks of ice to activate switches, solve layered challenges, and rescue penguins trapped behind frozen cages. Every move matters. Ice blocks slide until they hit an obstacle, fragile tiles crack after repeated use, and one careless push can turn a solution into a frozen dead end. With 50 handcrafted puzzles and intuitive controls, the challenge steadily grows while staying accessible and satisfying. Cute penguins set the stakes, but smart thinking is the key to saving them all. • 50 handcrafted puzzles • Simple, intuitive controls • Clever ice-sliding mechanics • Adorable penguins to rescue

Screenshots

A Short Tale4 screens
Iced In4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Iced In at Free against A Short Tale's $3.99. Iced In also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 5 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 74%). A Short Tale's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and rating (4.6 vs 4.2). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Iced In is free to download; A Short Tale costs $3.99 up front. Iced In sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. A Short Tale asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

A Short Tale holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: A Short Tale has 246 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 74% of A Short Tale's written reviews are positive against 100% of Iced In's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

A Short Tale ships an update every 5 months, Iced In every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
A Short Tale versus Iced In: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterA Short TaleIced In
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (246 ratings) — better4.2 (13 ratings)
Positive reviews74.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings246 — better13
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size290 MB214 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGlitch GamesDennis Mengelt

Customer experience

A Short Tale

All ratings245 ratings
Positive89.8%
Neutral4.1%
Negative6.1%
Written reviews128 reviews
Positive74.2%
Neutral11.7%
Negative14.1%

Iced In

All ratings13 ratings
Positive84.6%
Neutral7.7%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

A Short Tale

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Camera/photo album icon overlap issue
  • Crossword puzzle glitch causing game to freeze
  • Missing puzzle elements preventing completion

Requested features

3 requests
  • Hint system or built-in walkthrough
  • Improved navigation and screen loading times
  • More logical and intuitive puzzle design

Iced In

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

A Short Tale

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Iced In

One-time1
  • Episode 2$0.99

Questions

Is A Short Tale free?
A Short Tale costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Iced In free?
Iced In is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, A Short Tale or Iced In?
A Short Tale is rated higher. A Short Tale averages 4.6 out of 5 from 246 ratings, while Iced In averages 4.2 from 13 ratings.
Do A Short Tale or Iced In have ads?
Neither A Short Tale nor Iced In shows ads.
Which is updated more often, A Short Tale or Iced In?
A Short Tale ships an update every 5 months, and Iced In every 3 days. Most recently, A Short Tale was updated on November 6, 2026 and Iced In on November 2, 2026.

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