What's inside the box? vs Shells
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
What's inside the box?
Engage in a series of challenging puzzles to uncover the contents of various boxes. Utilize hints to overcome difficult levels and unlock additional features for an enhanced experience.
- Solve 100+ puzzles
- Discover box contents
- Use hint system
- Premium unlock available
- Skip level option
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What's inside the box? A lot of puzzles! Can you solve all 100 and discover what's in the box? Need hints? Use the hint button at the bottom in each level. There are 2 hints for each level. With the premium unlock in-app you will not get ads before the hints and you will get a skip level button after asking the 2 hints in each level. (note: with the premium unlock the skip button will appear AFTER asking the 2 hints in each level) Enjoy! @BartBonte
Shells
A geometry puzzle game where you slide blocks into larger shells to rearrange the board and solve challenges. It offers over 360 levels across 8 worlds with a focus on spatial reasoning and problem-solving. Enjoy a relaxing experience with a soothing soundtrack.
- Nested block sliding mechanics
- Over 360 original levels
- 8 distinct game worlds
- Optional hint system
- Soothing piano soundtrack
- Compact 4x4 grid gameplay
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Shells is a geometry puzzle game about the elegance of nested pieces on a tiny board. Slide your block into larger shells to rearrange the board and find your way out! Features: - Simple core mechanics and deep emergent complexity packed into a compact 4x4 grid. Train your brain by challenging your problem solving and spatial reasoning skills! - Gradual difficulty curve featuring over 360 original levels spread across 8 distinct worlds. - Flexible progression structure with multiple levels to choose from at any given point. - Adjust the difficulty to your liking with the optional hint system! - Soothing piano soundtrack accompanied by relaxing sound effects and backgrounds.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Shells at 5.0 against What's inside the box?'s 4.3. Shells also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 78%). What's inside the box?'s advantage is ratings volume (111 vs 22). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. What's inside the box? sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Shells sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Shells holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: What's inside the box? has 111 ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of What's inside the box?'s written reviews are positive against 100% of Shells's.
What's inside the box? ships an update every 3 months, Shells weekly. The most recent releases landed on August 30, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | What's inside the box? | Shells |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (111 ratings) | 5.0 (22 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 111 — better | 22 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 102 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bart BONTE | arlybird games LLC |
Customer experience
What's inside the box?
Shells
Bugs and requests
What's inside the box?
Reported bugs
7 issues- Progress lost when switching apps or reopening application
- Level 43 button unresponsive after pressing question mark
- Level 7 layer movement not functioning correctly
- Level 45 resets progress to level 21
- Screen rendering issues making portions unviewable
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- Hints not unlocking next level despite correct solution
- Multiple levels appearing identical or too similar (52/72, 81/88)
Requested features
6 requests- Skip button for difficult levels
- Pause functionality during gameplay
- Improved hint system with clearer guidance
- Additional levels beyond 100
- Better progress save system
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- Sequel or expansion content
Shells
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
What's inside the box?
- premium unlock$2.49
Shells
- Small Bundle$0.99
- Medium Bundle$1.99
- Large Bundle$3.99
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- Unlimited Bundle$8.99
Questions
Is What's inside the box? free?
Is Shells free?
Which has better reviews, What's inside the box? or Shells?
Do What's inside the box? or Shells have ads?
Which is updated more often, What's inside the box? or Shells?
Other comparisons
