Comparison

Circulous vs Second Best

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • First-person narrative gameplay
  • Mystery and conspiracy storyline
  • Challenging puzzles
  • Animated environments
  • Immersive parallax movement
  • Intuitive in-game device interaction
Features
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Absurd mystery adventure
  • Interactive story with twists
  • Classic point and click gameplay
  • Solve zany puzzles
  • Hand-drawn visuals
  • Colorful characters
Features
Read full description

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

Circulous4 screens
Second Best4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Circulous costs $1.99 and Second Best $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Circulous versus Second Best: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCirculousSecond Best
Price$1.99 — better$5.99
Rating4.2 (184 ratings)5.0 (31 ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings184 — better31
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size985 MB340 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperChain Reaction Games LLCMysteryCaper, LLC

Customer experience

Circulous

All ratings184 ratings
Positive74.5%
Neutral9.8%
Negative15.8%
Written reviews82 reviews
Positive54.9%
Neutral18.3%
Negative26.8%

Second Best

All ratings31 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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
Show 13 more
  • 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
Show 2 more
  • 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

None

Circulous

No in-app purchases

None

Second Best

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Circulous free?
Circulous costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Second Best free?
Second Best costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Circulous or Second Best?
Second Best is rated higher. Circulous averages 4.2 out of 5 from 184 ratings, while Second Best averages 5.0 from 31 ratings.
Do Circulous or Second Best have ads?
Neither Circulous nor Second Best shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Circulous or Second Best?
Circulous ships an update every 6 days, and Second Best every 3 months. Most recently, Circulous was updated on October 17, 2026 and Second Best on October 15, 2026.

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