Comparison

holedown vs Orb Match

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

Head to head
About

holedown

Dig deep underground by strategically shooting balls to break blocks and reach planet cores. Collect crystals for upgrades and master bouncing patterns in this charming, minimalist game with an original soundtrack. Enjoy hours of gameplay with procedurally generated planets and multiple modes.

Highlights
  • Dig through six planets
  • Collect crystals for upgrades
  • Procedurally generated planets
  • Original space acid soundtrack
  • Endless play mode
  • Intuitive one-handed play
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Dig deep underground by shooting balls and breaking blocks, traversing your way to the planet cores. With limited shots per round and some blocks fixed firmly to the wall, thoughtfully strategize and aim for maximum impact. Knock down as many blocks as possible while collecting crystals for upgrades and getting deeper beneath the surface. Choose your ideal upgrades such as more starting balls, more shots per round, or storing more crystals, based on your play style and overall strategy. Work your way into the procedurally generated planets with a delightful spectacle of bouncing as you get closer to the planet’s core. Balance your plan between ball bouncing patterns and unpredictable, surprising bounces in this mesmerizing and curious game oozing with charm. Immerse yourself in a world of extravagant minimalistic art while jamming out to an original space acid soundtrack as you feel the satisfaction of digging further underground. Features: • Six planets to dig through • Original soundtrack of seven diverse and space-acid themed tunes • A tight experience with 5+ hours of gameplay’ • Intuitive, one-handed play • Endless play mode • 5 achievements • 11 leaderboards • Split view support • Toggle for screen shake

About

Orb Match

Solve match-3 puzzles to collect magical orbs and runes. Use these to conjure a vast collection of unique dragons and expand your lair. Speed up the process with in-game currency.

Highlights
  • Match-3 puzzle gameplay
  • Collect magical orbs and runes
  • Conjure unique dragons
  • Expand your dragon lair
  • In-app purchases for speed-ups
Features
Read full description

MATCH ORBS. COLLECT DRAGONS. TAKE THEM INTO BATTLE. What if the Orbs you collected in a Match-3 puzzle game could be used to build your own team of Dragons? That's the idea behind Orb Match: Dragon Puzzle. Solve Match-3 puzzles, collect elemental Orbs, and use them to Conjure and Evolve Dragons. As your collection grows, choose four of your strongest Dragons to form a Wing and take them into the Battleground for turn-based battles. It's two kinds of gameplay brought together in one game. What you earn in the puzzles helps you build your Dragon collection, and the Dragons you collect become your team in the Arena. **MATCH-3 PUZZLES** Match colorful Orbs, set off combos, and use power-ups to clear challenging puzzles. Every puzzle gives you another opportunity to collect the Orbs you need for your Dragons. **COLLECT AND EVOLVE DRAGONS** Visit the Rookery to Conjure new Dragons, evolve your favorites, and build your collection. Each Dragon has its own pixel-art design, elemental strengths, and abilities. There are themed Dragon collections to discover, with more Dragons and special events to look forward to. **BUILD YOUR FOUR-DRAGON WING** Put together a team of four Dragons and enter the Battleground. Battles are turn-based, and you'll need to think about your Dragons' abilities and elemental advantages to take down enemy teams. You're battling computer-controlled opponents, not other players. **KEEP BUILDING YOUR COLLECTION** Complete Daily Bounties, earn rewards, level up, and use the resources you collect to strengthen your Dragons. There's always another puzzle to solve or another Dragon to work toward. **A LITTLE RETRO, A LOT OF DRAGONS** Orb Match combines classic Match-3 puzzles with retro-inspired pixel-art Dragons and turn-based battles. It's free to play on iOS, whether you've got a few minutes for a puzzle or you're ready to work on your next Dragon. Collect. Evolve. Battle.

Screenshots

holedown4 screens
Orb Match4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Orb Match at Free against holedown's $3.99. Orb Match also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 9 months) and rating (4.6 vs 4.3). holedown's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and ads (none vs shown). On 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

Orb Match is free to download; holedown costs $3.99 up front. Orb Match sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. holedown asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Orb Match holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: holedown has 399 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of holedown's written reviews are positive against 80% of Orb Match's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

holedown ships an update every 9 months, Orb Match every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard10 real differences · 1 level
holedown versus Orb Match: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterholedownOrb Match
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (399 ratings)4.6 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.8% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings399 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#168 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerwebbfarbror ABGary Bloom

Customer experience

holedown

All ratings398 ratings
Positive79.6%
Neutral9.5%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews202 reviews
Positive71.8%
Neutral14.4%
Negative13.9%

Orb Match

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

holedown

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Save data randomly resets
  • Gameplay freezes after certain actions
  • Sound effects not working properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • More planets/levels
  • Diverse block types and gameplay mechanics
  • Ability to skip crystal counting animation
  • Cloud save sync between devices

Orb Match

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

holedown

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Orb Match

One-time5
  • 10 Gems$1.99
  • 27 Gems$4.99
  • 56 Gems$9.99
Show 2 more
  • 145 Gems$24.99
  • 300 Gems$49.99

Questions

Is holedown free?
holedown costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Orb Match free?
Orb Match is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, holedown or Orb Match?
Orb Match is rated higher. holedown averages 4.3 out of 5 from 399 ratings, while Orb Match averages 4.6 from 8 ratings.
Do holedown or Orb Match have ads?
Orb Match shows ads; holedown does not.
Which is updated more often, holedown or Orb Match?
holedown ships an update every 9 months, and Orb Match every 10 days. Most recently, holedown was updated on November 6, 2026 and Orb Match on November 5, 2026.

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