Circulous vs Second Best
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Circulous
Embark on an immersive first-person mystery narrative puzzle game. Solve challenging puzzles as Amanda Trouser, uncovering corporate espionage and conspiracy theories within a mysterious company. Experience a story-driven adventure with animated environments and intuitive in-game device interaction.
- First-person narrative gameplay
- Mystery and conspiracy storyline
- Challenging puzzles
- Animated environments
- Immersive parallax movement
- Intuitive in-game device interaction
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Pay once, play forever! Circulous is an episodic mystery narrative puzzle game. In this first-person game, you take on the persona of Amanda Trouser. You have just been let go from your job. After packing your things, you wonder what you are going to do with the rest of your life. How will you afford your apartment? On the subway ride home you see an add for a job opening at Circulous…it’s almost as if the ad was put there just for you! You apply, and you end up hired! That is only the beginning of the story. Your work at Circulous is exciting, but soon you realize there may be more to this company than you’ve ever imagined. Corporate espionage, conspiracy theories and moral dilemmas lead you through challenging puzzles that will test your wits, your allegiances, and what you think you know about…everything. Engagement This puzzle game pulls you in and makes it as immersive as possible. Scenes use parallax movement to make it feel like you are in Amanda’s world. The opening scene (in which you are fired) uses story and humor to quickly place you in Amanda’s shoes. Each scene is an animated environment that invites you to explore and notice things that may or may not be important to the story or puzzles. The use of your phone (or iPad) is an intuitive way to keep you in the game but also make it feel as if you are truly using your device alongside the game and not just a gimmick. The OS feels like a true OS and makes the immersive nature of the game much more enjoyable.
Second Best
Continue an absurd mystery adventure filled with unexpected twists and whimsical humor. Solve clever puzzles and explore a world brought to life with charming hand-drawn visuals. Uncover the truth about your identity and escape a perilous journey.
- Absurd mystery adventure
- Interactive story with twists
- Classic point and click gameplay
- Solve zany puzzles
- Hand-drawn visuals
- Colorful characters
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The excitement CONTINUES. You're a LONGER way from home than you ever thought possible. And the more you learn about your IDENTITY, the less you seem to KNOW. It's not easy being BEST. Welcome back to the world of COLBIES and OPIES, where nothing is what you think, not even your OWN PAST … WHEN WE LAST LEFT OFF IN BESTED You had just been spirited away by a gang of SUPERHUMAN meanies. WHY are they doing this, and can you get a better stateroom for the JOURNEY? Find the answers to these questions and more, and try not to get tangled up in too many MURDERS along the way. FEATURES • Absurd Mystery Adventure – A comedy-filled interactive story with unexpected twists, whimsical humor, and a genuinely complex but curious plot. • Classic Point and Click Gameplay – Tap around, poke things, collect clues, and talk your way out of (and into) trouble. • Zany Puzzles – Solve clever puzzles that are unique and satisfying, the MysteryCaper way! • Hand-Drawn Visuals – Explore a world brought to life with charming art created by hand. Human hand. • Colorful Characters – From a puzzling ally to ship crew to tricky villains, everyone's got something to hide. – MysteryCaper. It's COMEDY SOLVED.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Second Best at 100% against Circulous's 55%. Second Best also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). Circulous's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 months) and price ($1.99 vs $5.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Circulous costs $1.99 and Second Best $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Second Best holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Circulous has 184 ratings behind it against 31, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of Circulous's written reviews are positive against 100% of Second Best's.
Circulous ships an update every 6 days, Second Best every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Circulous | Second Best |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $5.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (184 ratings) | 5.0 (31 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 184 — better | 31 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 985 MB | 340 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Chain Reaction Games LLC | MysteryCaper, LLC |
Customer experience
Circulous
Second Best
Bugs and requests
Circulous
Reported bugs
18 issues- Game crashes when entering shifty.com/invisible or shifty.com/door/15
- Ryde app shows 'no routes available' preventing progression
- Text message reply interface fails to display responses
- Cloud save reloads prevent continuing gameplay
- Computer/app windows fail to open or display properly
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- Screen becomes blurry or frozen when navigating between scenes
- Magnifying glass and mailbox clickable elements unresponsive
- Inventory locked preventing item placement
- Game crashes when rotating device to access phone interface
- Crashes when opening specific messages (HR rep email)
- Decoder grid displays empty with missing elements
- Keyboard remains on screen after typing, blocking puzzle content
- File names overlap and display incorrectly
- Game hangs with background music continuing after exit
- Compatibility issues with iOS 14 memory allocation
- Bird box combination numbers too small to read accurately
- Puzzle solutions don't work despite correct answers
- Game crashes on first puzzle when placing items in box
Requested features
7 requests- In-game hints and walkthrough system accessible without Discord or email
- More frequent content updates and new chapters
- Skip or difficulty adjustment options for challenging puzzles
- Ability to disable music
- Improved hint system with escalating difficulty levels
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- Larger, more readable text and UI elements
- Reduced real-time waiting mechanics
Second Best
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Circulous
No in-app purchases
Second Best
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Circulous free?
Is Second Best free?
Which has better reviews, Circulous or Second Best?
Do Circulous or Second Best have ads?
Which is updated more often, Circulous or Second Best?
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