Screaming Cactus vs Bubblarium
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Screaming Cactus
Protect a cactus from invading bugs by smashing them before they consume it. As you defeat enemies and earn currency, the cactus's appearance becomes more stylish.
- Smash bugs
- Protect the cactus
- Collect money
- Customize cactus appearance
- Fast-paced gameplay
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Kill the bugs before they eat the cactus! He's screaming for a reason! SAVE HIM!!! Also, the cactus starts to look more and more hip as you kill bugs and collect money... so that's cool
Bubblarium
Immerse yourself in a vibrant underwater world with two distinct play modes. Enjoy a relaxing screensaver experience or engage in a fast-paced arcade challenge. Customize your aquatic environment with various creatures and decorative elements.
- Animated underwater world with diverse sea life
- Zen Mode for relaxation and screensaver
- Bubble Rush arcade mode with timers and scores
- Customizable aquarium with creature toggles
- Unlockable difficulty tiers in Bubble Rush
- Optional cosmetic and gameplay add-ons
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Bubblarium fills your screen with a beautifully animated underwater world: colorful fish drift past, a dolphin leaps above the waves, crabs scuttle along the sandy floor, and bubbles rise gently toward the surface. Tap any bubble to pop it, or just sit back and watch. TWO WAYS TO PLAY Zen Mode is pure relaxation. No timers, no pressure, no score. The aquarium runs as a living screensaver you can interact with whenever the mood strikes. Pop a bubble, watch the shark prowl, spot the UFO abducting your fish — or just let it breathe in the background. Bubble Rush turns the aquarium into an arcade challenge. Race the clock and pop as many bubbles as you can before time runs out. Combo chains multiply your score. Special bubbles — golden, pearl, danger, and mystery — change the rules on the fly. Watch out for the shark, crabs, barracuda, and UFO; they all have their own ideas about your bubbles. THE AQUARIUM IS ALIVE • Sharks prowl and snap at bubbles, costing you points in Rush • Dolphins leap above the water and dive back in • Crabs scuttle the floor and occasionally grab bubbles mid-swim • A barracuda darts through in a flash • A UFO surfaces and beams your bubbles into the sky • Angelfish, neon tetras, and seahorses drift through it all BUBBLE RUSH FEATURES • 8 difficulty tiers that unlock naturally as your lifetime score grows — from Reef Rookie to Bubble Legend • Golden and pearl bubbles worth bonus points; danger bubbles that punish careless pops • Mystery bubbles that trigger random events: score multipliers, bubble bursts, shark frenzies, and more • Combo multipliers for rapid pops • Game Center leaderboards and achievements • Round summary with stats after every game MAKE IT YOURS! Customize the scene from the menu: toggle creatures on or off, adjust fish count, bubble count, and crab count. Everything is saved so your aquarium always looks exactly how you like it. OPTIONAL ADD-ONS (one-time purchases, all $0.99) • Additional submarine scenery and a sunken shipwreck for the aquarium floor • Game Sub Pack: a navy submarine that patrols during Bubble Rush and fires torpedoes at your bubbles • Torpedo Pack: unlocks upgraded and danger torpedo variants for the game sub • Squid Pack: a squid drifts through your aquarium and hunts bubbles during Bubble Rush All add-ons are optional — the full Zen and Bubble Rush experience is complete with no additional purchase required.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Bubblarium at 5.0 against Screaming Cactus's 4.5. Bubblarium also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 28 months). Screaming Cactus's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.6). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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. Bubblarium sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Screaming Cactus asks for nothing beyond the download.
Bubblarium holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 5 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Screaming Cactus ships an update every 28 months, Bubblarium every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Screaming Cactus | Bubblarium |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 28 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 133 MB | 638 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mycah Krason | Charles Condron |
Customer experience
Screaming Cactus
Bubblarium
In-app purchases
Screaming Cactus
No in-app purchases
Bubblarium
- Game Add On - Submarine Pack$0.99
- Game Add On - Torpedo Pack$0.99
- Old Rusty Submarine$0.99
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- Scenery Sub 2$0.99
- Shipwreck Scenery$0.99
- Squid Pack$0.99









