Comparison

Linky Blocks vs Shade Out

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

Head to head
About

Linky Blocks

A tactile matching game where you link identical blocks to make them pop. Enjoy satisfying animations and sounds, with competitive and relaxing modes. Customize the game's look and feel with different themes.

Highlights
  • Link identical blocks
  • Tactile popping animations
  • Competitive Challenge mode
  • Relaxing Endless mode
  • Customizable themes
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Linky Blocks! This is a matching game - match identical blocks by dragging your finger along the chain, in any direction. 2 blocks or more, then watch them pop! Linky Blocks squirm when pressed, drop, squish and bounce when popped. It's super tactile and satisfying. It's half game, half fidget toy! Tax yourself in the competitive modes, including the new Challenge mode filled with devious levels to clear, or play in Endless mode to just relax. Change theme to change the look and feel of the game and keep it fresh! Screenshots courtesy of the rather excellent Screenshots Pro - http://screenshots.pro

About

Shade Out

Features
Read full description

One tile is a slightly different shade. Find it. That's the whole game — and it goes deeper than you'd think. The gap shrinks level after level until it's roughly 1 ΔE, the smallest colour difference a human eye can detect at all. Most people tap out somewhere in the low twenties. That's not a failure. That's your retina. A 200-LEVEL JOURNEY Start easy and climb through eight chapters. Each level is a handful of boards, each subtler than the last, and you earn up to three stars for a clean run. Miss a tile and the game shows you the one you should have found — so every mistake teaches. Two hundred levels, from a gentle warm-up to the very edge of human vision. AND SIX MORE WAYS TO PLAY • Classic — points for speed. Tap the odd tile in under a second and it's 1000. • Daily — one board a day, identical for everyone on Earth. Compare and argue. • Sprint — 60 seconds. Clear as many as you can. A miss costs you four. • Endless — no safety net. The clock tightens with every level you clear. • Sudden Death — three lives, no clock. Just your eye, taking its time. • Zen — no clock, no lives. Pure practice. (Pro) MADE WITH ACTUAL CARE • Difficulty is measured in CIELAB ΔE — a perceptual unit — so level 12 is exactly as hard on a deep blue as it is on a pale yellow. Colour games that step raw RGB or HSL values quietly make some hues far harder than others. This one doesn't. • The odd tile always differs in lightness, never hue alone, so it stays playable if you're colour blind. • Every colour is checked to be inside the sRGB gamut before it's shown, so the gap you're hunting is exactly the gap intended — never a clipped approximation. • Global leaderboards through Game Center. QUIETLY RESPECTFUL • No ads. No accounts. No tracking. No analytics. • Plays fully offline — leaderboard scores sync whenever you're next online. Your eye is better than you think. Right up until it isn't.

Screenshots

Linky Blocks4 screens
Shade Out4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shade Out at none against Linky Blocks's 5. Shade Out also leads on ads (none vs shown). Linky Blocks's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.2 vs 17.0). On price 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

Both are free to download. Linky Blocks sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Shade Out asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Linky Blocks ships an update weekly, Shade Out every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Linky Blocks versus Shade Out: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLinky BlocksShade Out
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.2 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size85 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAW GamesKhezan Khushnud Irani

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Linky Blocks

One-time5
  • Halloween ThemeFree
  • Zen Theme$0.99
  • Fabric Theme$0.99
Show 2 more
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • Full Unlock$4.99
None

Shade Out

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Linky Blocks free?
Linky Blocks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shade Out free?
Shade Out is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Linky Blocks or Shade Out have ads?
Linky Blocks shows ads; Shade Out does not.
Which is updated more often, Linky Blocks or Shade Out?
Linky Blocks ships an update weekly, and Shade Out every 4 weeks. Most recently, Linky Blocks was updated on November 3, 2026 and Shade Out on November 5, 2026.

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