Shift Shaft vs Tower Swap
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
Tower Swap
This match-3 puzzle game combines strategic tower defense with a medieval theme. Match three stones to create towers and defend your castle from incoming dragons. Enjoy instant play with no signup and offline capabilities.
- Match-3 puzzle mechanics
- Tower defense gameplay
- Castle defense against dragons
- Merge stones to build towers
- Offline play available
- Online high score competition
- Portrait mode for one-handed play
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The match-3 Tower Defense game! It's like a match-3 puzzle game but your matches turn into towers! Then dragons fly over the board and you have to defend the castle. Merge three stones to make a tower. - No signup required. Try playing it instantly. - Play offline without internet when logged out. - Play online to compete for high scores against friends. - Portrait mode game. Play one-handed. - Turn based game. Look away any time and you're fine. - A small download, and loads quickly. - Over one million plays! Featuring retro medieval pixel art by Kyle McArthur.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Tower Swap at Free against Shift Shaft's $2.99. Tower Swap also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). Shift Shaft's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and ads (none vs shown). On ratings volume, update cadence and 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
Tower Swap is free to download; Shift Shaft costs $2.99 up front. Tower Swap sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Shift Shaft asks for nothing beyond the download.
Shift Shaft holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 143 and 76 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Shift Shaft's written reviews are positive against 75% of Tower Swap's.
Shift Shaft ships an update fortnightly, Tower Swap monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shift Shaft | Tower Swap |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (143 ratings) — better | 4.6 (76 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 75.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 143 — better | 76 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #199 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | William Katz | Curtis Robinson |
Customer experience
Shift Shaft
Tower Swap
Bugs and requests
Shift Shaft
Requested features
2 requests- Non-pixelated graphics
- Mid-run save option
Tower Swap
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Shift Shaft
No in-app purchases
Tower Swap
- Pile of Gold$0.99
- Pile of Gold$1.99
- Barrel of Gold$2.49
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Barrel of Gold$4.99
- Five Barrels of Gold!$9.99
- Five Barrels Of Gold$19.99
Questions
Is Shift Shaft free?
Is Tower Swap free?
Which has better reviews, Shift Shaft or Tower Swap?
Do Shift Shaft or Tower Swap have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shift Shaft or Tower Swap?
Other comparisons
