Comparison

Samorost 3 vs Boxville

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

Head to head
About

Samorost 3

Embark on a cosmic journey as a curious space gnome exploring nine unique alien worlds. Solve puzzles and uncover mysteries using a magic flute. This award-winning adventure game features beautiful artwork, sound, and music.

Highlights
  • Exploration adventure game
  • Puzzle solving
  • Magic flute powers
  • Nine unique alien worlds
  • Beautiful artwork and music
  • Curious space gnome protagonist
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Samorost 3 is an exploration adventure and puzzle game from the award-winning creators of Machinarium and Botanicula. It is Amanita Design’s most ambitious experience to date and a loose continuation of the hit indie games Samorost and Samorost 2. Samorost 3 follows a curious space gnome who uses the powers of a magic flute to travel across the cosmos in search of its mysterious origins. Visit nine unique and alien worlds teeming with colorful challenges, creatures and surprises to discover, brought to life with beautiful artwork, sound and music. We recommend playing with headphones for a greater experience! What the press said: “Possibly the most beautiful point-and-click adventure I've ever played.” - Destructoid “The best adventure game in years.” - Kill Screen “A worthy follow-up to Machinarium and Botanicula.” - Pocket Gamer “Arguably the greatest game to come out of Amanita Design.” - PC Gamer “Samorost 3's setting is immediately entrancing.” - GameSpot “All of the music is incredible.” - GameZebo “Samorost 3 is a game that feels alive.” - Stuff

About

Boxville

This animated adventure puzzle game features speechless cans navigating a city of boxes. Solve logic puzzles and riddles, explore a charming world, and uncover the mystery behind earthquakes. Enjoy a unique audio-visual experience, playable solo or with a friend.

Highlights
  • Animated film and puzzle game hybrid
  • Hand-drawn graphics and custom animations
  • Environmental quests and logical puzzles
  • Unique music for each scene
  • Wordless communication via speech bubbles
  • Playable solo or co-op
Features
Read full description

Boxville is 2-in-1: an animated film and a puzzle game. Boxville is an adventure puzzle game about speechless cans living in the city of boxes and drawing doodles on cardboards to tell the stories. Boxville is good for playing alone to dive into the atmosphere and challenge your brain with sophisticated logic puzzles and riddles, or playing with a friend or family to share unique audio-visual experiences and solve the puzzles together. Design The core idea of the game is that it’s not just a game - but also an animated film that you can watch and play at the same time. We designed Boxville’s gameplay with the purpose of taking away your anxiety and stress. You can explore and observe the world without rushing and pressure. The game is full of environmental quests and logical puzzles that we have carefully picked from among hundreds of options. Story Boxville is a city of boxes populated with old cans. They live quiet and happy lives with their everyday routines and habits. But one day, unexplained earthquakes disturbed their idyll... Blue Can (our hero) lost his best friend because of that. He started his search but it is not so easy to move through the city after earthquakes. He has to find a way to move forward, return the friend back home and discover the real reason for all those earthquakes. There are many adventures, new friends and it’s not only friends that are waiting for him on the way. He has to be curious, inventive, careful, and to help others, to reach his goal. What you can expect to see and hear in Boxville: - Hand-drawn graphics — all backgrounds and characters are carefully drawn by our artists. - Every animation and sound is created especially for each interaction. - Unique music track was created for every scene to accomplish the atmosphere of the game. - Tens of logical puzzles and mini-games are tightly incorporated into the story of the game. - There are no words in the game — all characters communicate via cartoony speechbubbles.

Screenshots

Samorost 34 screens
Boxville4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Boxville at every 9 days against Samorost 3's every 7 months. Boxville also leads on price ($3.99 vs $9.99) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). Samorost 3's advantage is chart position (#59 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

Samorost 3 costs $9.99 and Boxville $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Boxville holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 568 and 755 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Samorost 3's written reviews are positive against 78% of Boxville's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Samorost 3 ships an update every 7 months, Boxville every 9 days. Both last shipped on September 22, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Samorost 3 versus Boxville: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSamorost 3Boxville
Price$9.99$3.99 — better
Rating4.5 (568 ratings)4.7 (755 ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.9% of reviews78.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings568755 — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#59 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.2 GB1.2 GB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperAmanita Design s.r.o.Triomatica Games

Customer experience

Samorost 3

All ratings568 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral3.7%
Negative10.6%
Written reviews855 reviews
Positive74.9%
Neutral6.9%
Negative18.2%

Boxville

All ratings755 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral2.9%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews225 reviews
Positive78.2%
Neutral8.0%
Negative13.8%

User reviews

Samorost 3

From 568 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 Amazing graphics and visuals
  • 🎶 Wonderful soundtrack and sound design
  • 🤗 Charming and quirky characters
  • 🧠 Challenging and rewarding puzzles
  • 🌍 Immersive and imaginative world-building

Room to improve

  • 🤯 Some puzzles are overly obscure and difficult
  • ⏱️ Slow pacing and progression at times
  • 💾 Occasional save/load issues and loss of progress
  • 📱 Not optimized for smaller screens

Boxville

From 755 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Enjoyable puzzles
  • 🎨 Beautiful art and animation
  • 🎶 Lovely music
  • 🧠 Challenging but logical puzzles
  • 🤗 Charming characters and story

Room to improve

  • 🕰️ Short game length
  • 🔍 Tiny inventory items hard to see
  • 🤯 Some puzzles too obscure
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🤖 Lack of hint system or ability to skip puzzles

Bugs and requests

Samorost 3

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Game crashes on certain devices
  • Compatibility issues with older iOS versions

Requested features

3 requests
  • Ability to restart the game from the beginning
  • More detailed instructions and tutorials
  • Support for larger screens like iPad Pro

Boxville

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Progress reset after updates
  • Inventory items disappearing
  • Puzzle mechanics not working as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Longer game with more content
  • Ability to use stylus/Apple Pencil
  • Improved save/load system
  • In-game hints or ability to skip puzzles

In-app purchases

None

Samorost 3

No in-app purchases

None

Boxville

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Samorost 3 free?
Samorost 3 costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Boxville free?
Boxville costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Samorost 3 or Boxville?
Boxville is rated higher. Samorost 3 averages 4.5 out of 5 from 568 ratings, while Boxville averages 4.7 from 755 ratings.
Do Samorost 3 or Boxville have ads?
Neither Samorost 3 nor Boxville shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Samorost 3 or Boxville?
Samorost 3 ships an update every 7 months, and Boxville every 9 days. Most recently, Samorost 3 was updated on September 22, 2026 and Boxville on September 22, 2026.

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