Comparison

POINPY vs Pixl8

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

Head to head
About

POINPY

Bounce upwards, dodging enemies and collecting fruit to feed a hungry beast. Unlock new abilities and modes as you climb higher in this vertical action game. Explore randomly generated areas and master one-handed controls.

Highlights
  • Intuitive one-handed controls
  • Bounce and flip mechanics
  • Collect fruit for beast's juice
  • Dodge adorable baddies
  • Unlockable puzzle and endless modes
  • Randomly generated areas
Read full description

Bounce up, dodge adorable baddies and feed the blue beast that's hot on your heels. A vertical climber from the creator of the award-winning Downwell. Keep going higher and higher because new and more challenging areas await. Earn and unlock abilities that will help you jump into your next run with a better shot at reaching the end. FEATURES Juice 'em up: Use intuitive, one-handed controls to bounce, flip around and grab fruit for the beast's juice. Climb & collect: Evade creatures lurking in randomly generated areas. Collect special abilities like the octobub, which sucks in fruit, and the handy snail clock, which stops time while you ready your next jump. Plus many others! Open new modes: Find a not-so-well-hidden area to unlock the tricky puzzle mode. Complete Poinpy to unlock an endless mode.

About

Pixl8

This app transforms your iPhone into a retro 8-bit console for PICO-8 games. It allows you to play a vast library of handcrafted pixel-art games, with features like customizable touch controls, controller support, and cross-platform multiplayer.

Highlights
  • PICO-8 game library
  • Tap-and-play cart system
  • Customizable touch controls
  • Bluetooth controller support
  • Cross-platform multiplayer
  • Save states management
Read full description

Pixl8 turns your iPhone into a pocket-sized retro 8-bit-style console for PICO-8, the fantasy console loved for its tiny, handcrafted pixel-art games. Point Pixl8 at the folder where you keep your carts and it turns them into a tap-and-play library. Each cart is a single PNG image (example.p8.png) with a whole game inside: art, music and code. If you love retro gaming, chiptune soundtracks and hand-drawn pixel art, Pixl8 lets you carry a whole community's worth of indie games in your pocket: arcade shooters, platformers, puzzlers, RPGs, roguelikes and playable demos, all in that unmistakable low-res, high-charm PICO-8 style. https://pixl8.dev What you get: • A growing library of games, added with their authors' permission and playable right away. • Library, Favourites and Recent tabs for your own collection. • Per-cart actions on long-press: open the BBS page, resume game, start fresh game, manage save states. • Cross-platform multiplayer: play with friends on other devices, over local Wi-Fi or the internet. Plays the way you want: • Touch controls with a fully editable on-screen layout. Drag, resize and save your placement. • Bluetooth game controllers. Pair a retro-style gamepad for the authentic feel. • Hardware keyboard supported. • Shader effects, including a retro LCD look. Pro features (optional one-time purchase): • Save states, up to 10 per cart, plus an auto-save-on-exit slot. • Host multiplayer games. • Resume on tap: open a cart and pick up exactly where you left off, with no menu navigation. • In-game quick-save and quick-load on a gamepad combo. • Manage Save States screen with export and import. Whether you grew up on 8-bit handhelds or just love the pixel-art aesthetic, Pixl8 makes it effortless to discover, collect and play the best of the PICO-8 scene. Pixl8 does not ship PICO-8 itself or any of Lexaloffle's copyrighted assets. It is an independent player that reads the public PICO-8 cart format. To run a cart you will need either one of the bundled examples (included with permission) or your own files. The lexaloffle.com BBS hosts thousands of free community carts. Pixl8 is not affiliated with Lexaloffle.

Screenshots

POINPY4 screens
Pixl84 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: POINPY at free against Pixl8's free with in-app purchases. POINPY also leads on ratings volume (286 vs 2). Pixl8's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. POINPY sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Pixl8 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for POINPY against 5.0 for Pixl8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: POINPY has 286 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

POINPY ships an update every 2 weeks, Pixl8 every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
POINPY versus Pixl8: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPOINPYPixl8
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (286 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews95.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings286 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size218 MB10 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperDevolverCodedreams

Customer experience

POINPY

All ratings153 ratings
Positive98.7%
Neutral0.7%
Negative0.7%
Written reviews87 reviews
Positive95.4%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.3%

Pixl8

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

POINPY

One-time3
  • Standard Tip$1.99
  • Generous Tip$4.99
  • Super Generous Tip!$9.99
1 purchases

Pixl8

One-time1
  • Pixl8 Pro:Save States & Multiplayer$6.99

Questions

Is POINPY free?
POINPY is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pixl8 free?
Pixl8 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, POINPY or Pixl8?
Pixl8 is rated higher. POINPY averages 5.0 out of 5 from 286 ratings, while Pixl8 averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do POINPY or Pixl8 have ads?
Neither POINPY nor Pixl8 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, POINPY or Pixl8?
POINPY ships an update every 2 weeks, and Pixl8 every 4 days. Most recently, POINPY was updated on November 11, 2026 and Pixl8 on October 31, 2026.

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