Tiny Bubbles vs Shift Shaft
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tiny Bubbles
An award-winning puzzle game where players manipulate squishy soap bubbles. Mix colors, create chain reactions, and solve hundreds of unique challenges. Offers a relaxing experience with atmospheric music and fluid physics.
- Inflate, mix, match, and pop bubbles
- Physics-based bubble manipulation
- Hundreds of unique puzzles
- Multiple game modes (Puzzles, Arcade, Infinity)
- Relaxing ambient music and sounds
- Color-blind accessibility mode
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Winner of over a dozen gaming awards. Play with squishy clusters of soap bubbles in this mesmerizing puzzle game. Inflate, mix, match, pop, and win with hundreds of goals to complete. INNOVATIVE NEW GAMEPLAY Fill bubbles with colorful air and push nearby bubbles around using the physics of real bubbles! Break edges between bubbles to mix new colors and create matches of 4 or more. Plan your strategy from a list of moves to build up cascading chain reactions for dazzling bonuses. HOURS OF AMAZING CONTENT Experience unique surprises down every path! Each of the over 170 handmade puzzles requires new thinking and twisting strategies with ever increasing challenges. Play in 3 different game modes: PUZZLES, ARCADE, and INFINITY. Try to beat 35 bubbly achievements that will give your brain a workout. RELAXING AND ATMOSPHERIC Relaxing ambient music gracefully integrates with the satisfying sounds of popping bubbles. Put on a pair of headphones and experience a new level of flow and mindfulness. Play Infinity mode to earn helpful hint tickets. LIFE-LIKE SOAP BUBBLE PHYSICS From the vision of artist/coder/designer Stu Denman and inspired by the work of his MIT scientist grandfather, the game brings the beauty of nature to your screen. Incredibly fluid “molecular dynamics engine” animates hundreds of bubbles at 60 FPS. CHARMING CREATURES Help tiny aquatic creatures that are trapped in the bubbles. Avoid greedy jelly crabs and spiky urchins. Love him or hate him, a curious fish named Bloop will surely reveal your nature as an optimist or a pessimist. COLOR-BLIND MODE Featuring an innovative color-blind mode that provides an authentic and accessible game experience without intrusive icons or patterns. * No advertisements or in-app purchases. * ------ AWARDS ------ ● Winner, Best Mobile Game, Gamer's Voice Award at SXSW ● Winner, Best Quickplay, 14th International Mobile Gaming Awards ● Winner, Google Indie Games Festival ● Grand Prize Winner, The Label's Indie Showdown ● Official Selection, The PAX 10, Penny Arcade Expo West ● Winner, Amazon Games Forum Showdown ● Winner, Seattle Indie Game Competition ● Winner, Best Overall Game, Intel Buzz Workshop ● Official Selection, Indie Megabooth, PAX West ● Official Selection, Made With Unity Showcase ● Finalist, Intel Level Up ● Finalist, Best Gameplay, AzPlay, Spain
Shift Shaft
This puzzle game challenges players to match three or more rocks by rotating the entire game board. Upgrade your character's stats and unlock items as you explore an underground world and battle unique enemies. Enjoy an uninterrupted gaming experience with no ads or in-app purchases.
- Rotate the game board
- Match 3 or more rocks
- Upgrade player stats
- Unlock over 30 items
- Battle 5 unique enemies
- Explore underground world
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“What really blew my mind with Shift Shaft and the main thing that makes it feel unlike any other game out there is your ability to rotate the entire board at will. It sounds simple but this changes everything… This is truly a thinking person’s matching game.” - Jared Nelson, TouchArcade.com A match & rotate puzzle Manipulate your player and the board by rotating it and clearing groups of 3 or more rocks. Build up your player Collect and spend gems to upgrade your stats and unlock over 30 different items during each run. Explore the underground world Go up against 5 unique enemies and the gem-eating spider to uncover the world beneath the mines. No ads & no in-app purchases Play for as long you'd like with no ads or pay walls.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Shift Shaft at fortnightly against Tiny Bubbles's every 2 months. Shift Shaft also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 83%) and price ($2.99 vs $3.99). Tiny Bubbles's advantage is ratings volume (3.8K vs 143). On rating, 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
Tiny Bubbles costs $3.99 and Shift Shaft $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Tiny Bubbles against 4.9 for Shift Shaft. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tiny Bubbles has 3.8K ratings behind it against 143, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of Tiny Bubbles's written reviews are positive against 100% of Shift Shaft's.
Tiny Bubbles ships an update every 2 months, Shift Shaft fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tiny Bubbles | Shift Shaft |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (3.8K ratings) | 4.9 (143 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.8K — better | 143 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 127 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Pine Street Codeworks LLC | William Katz |
Customer experience
Tiny Bubbles
Shift Shaft
User reviews
Tiny Bubbles
From 3.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics and animations
- 🎶 Relaxing and soothing soundtrack
- 💡 Unique and creative puzzle mechanics
- 👍 Challenging yet satisfying gameplay
- 🕹️ Intuitive and easy to learn controls
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 🔍 Unclear instructions and tutorial
- 🕰️ Time-based puzzles can feel stressful
- 🔒 Limited hint system and paywall
- 🔚 Not enough new levels after completion
Shift Shaft
From 143 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Innovative rotate screen mechanic
- 👍 Easy to learn, hard to master
- 💎 Rare hidden gem
- 🧠 Clever and entertaining design
- ✨ Adds a breath of fresh air
Room to improve
- 📉 Graphics could be less pixelated
- 🤔 Difficult to pick up strategies
- ⏳ Mid-run save feature missing
Bugs and requests
Tiny Bubbles
Reported bugs
2 issues- Incorrect level completion conditions
- Hint system not functioning properly
Requested features
4 requests- More levels and worlds to explore
- Endless/infinite mode without time limits
- Improved hint system and accessibility
- Cloud save/sync across devices
Shift Shaft
Requested features
2 requests- Non-pixelated graphics
- Mid-run save option
In-app purchases
Tiny Bubbles
No in-app purchases
Shift Shaft
No in-app purchases









