Shortcut Run vs Yarnboy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shortcut Run
Race against opponents by collecting floorboards to build bridges and take shortcuts. Outsmart your rivals to reach the finish line first with stylish cheating. Enjoy simple, efficient controls.
- Collect floorboards
- Build bridges
- Take shortcuts
- Race against opponents
- Simple controls
- Efficient gameplay
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Race against opponents, and stack up all the floorboards you can pick up along the way! If you're clever enough, get out of the way and build bridges and take shortcuts to get to the finish line before everyone else! Cheating has never been so stylish! Simple gameplay with efficient and easy to learn controls.
Yarnboy
Control a runaway ball of yarn, leaving a trail to navigate increasingly complex tangles. Master one-thumb controls for arcade-style gameplay focused on nerve and timing. Collect in-game currency to unlock shop items and compete on global leaderboards.
- One-thumb controls
- Arcade gameplay
- Collect yarn balls
- Global leaderboard
- Daily challenges
- Offline play
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You're a runaway ball of yarn, and the thread you leave behind is the one thing that can end your run. Hold to curl, release to roll straight, and thread your way through tighter and tighter tangles. Yarnboy is a one-thumb arcade game about nerve and timing. The longer you last, the more thread you lay down — and the less room you have to move. One clip of your own tail and it's over. How long can you keep the yarn rolling? FEATURES • One-thumb controls — hold to curl, release to roll straight, double-tap to pounce • Easy to learn, genuinely hard to master • Collect yarn balls and spend them in the shop • Optional rewarded videos for a second chance or bonus yarn — never forced • Global leaderboard — sign in with Apple or Google to compete • Daily Tangle: a fresh challenge every day • Play fully offline as a guest — no account required No pop-up ads. No paywalls. Just you, one thumb, and a very long thread.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Yarnboy at none against Shortcut Run's 1. Yarnboy also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months). Shortcut Run's advantage is ratings volume (239K vs 2). On price, ads, 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
Both are free to download. Shortcut Run sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Yarnboy asks for nothing beyond the download.
Yarnboy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shortcut Run has 239K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Shortcut Run ships an update every 2 months, Yarnboy every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shortcut Run | Yarnboy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (239K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 46.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 239K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 313 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Voodoo | Browning PC, LLC |
Customer experience
Shortcut Run
Yarnboy
Bugs and requests
Shortcut Run
Reported bugs
3 issues- Game freezes and crashes frequently
- Invisible obstacles and visual glitches
- Unable to delete the app from device
Requested features
4 requests- Add multiplayer mode with real opponents
- Introduce more challenging levels and obstacles
- Increase variety of skins and customization options
- Improve gender representation in character selection
Yarnboy
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Shortcut Run
- No Ads$2.99
Yarnboy
No in-app purchases









