Taipan! Mobile vs Roll
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Taipan! Mobile
Experience a classic 1980s trading and adventure game set in the 1860s Western Pacific. Sail, trade exotic goods, battle pirates, and evade authorities. The game offers a nostalgic visual style with a modern mobile interface.
- Sail the Western Pacific
- Trade exotic goods
- Battle pirates
- Evade customs officials
- Fend off criminals
- Pay tribute to Tin Hau
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A complete port of the classic 1982 game Taipan!, balanced to mimic the original Apple ][ release. This game's look evokes the phosphorescent glow of an early-80's CRT, but its interface has been tailored for ease-of-use on a mobile device. * Sail the Western Pacific of the 1860's! * Trade exotic goods! * Battle fierce pirates! * Evade customs officials! * Fend off muggers, cutthroats, and thieves! * And, Li Yuen reminds you to always pay proper tribute to Tin Hau, the Sea Goddess! Download the game for free, pay only if you want to extend play beyond 12 months game time. (We feel confident that you will!)
Roll
Engage in a relaxing dice-rolling experience where you aim to collect points by rolling dice and strategically upgrading them. This game blends elements of strategy, clicker, and roguelike deckbuilders for a unique dice-building system with deep strategic choices. Enjoy a meditative escape with its minimalistic design and peaceful atmosphere.
- Dice rolling for points
- Dice upgrading system
- Strategy and critical thinking
- Relaxing and meditative experience
- Unique dicebuilding synergies
- Highscore chasing
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In Roll, you have 2500 rolls to collect as many points as possible. Roll your dice to gain points, spend your points to upgrade your dice, and repeat. Borrowing gameplay elements from strategy, clicker, and roguelike deckbuilder genres, Roll creates a perfect balance of relaxation with critical thinking. While the "Clicker"/"Incremental" genre is not known for its variety or depth of game mechanics, Roll offers a unique dicebuilding system which allows you to explore different strategies and synergies between upgrades. Each run will present you with new and interesting decisions creating a huge depth of strategy and keeping the game feeling always fresh. Roll is designed to be a relaxing and meditative experience. Get lost in the satisfying sounds and effects as all your worries melt away. From the minimalistic UI to the slow peaceful music, everything was designed to create the perfect zen environment. If you enjoy building an engine and watching it grow, chasing down highscores, or just need to escape from your own thoughts, then I really hope you'll enjoy my game, Roll. :)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Roll at 4.6 against Taipan! Mobile's 3.5. Roll also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (78% vs 56%). Taipan! Mobile's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 11.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Taipan! Mobile sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Roll sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Roll holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 128 and 439 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Taipan! Mobile's written reviews are positive against 78% of Roll's.
Taipan! Mobile ships an update every 2 months, Roll weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Taipan! Mobile | Roll |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (128 ratings) | 4.6 (439 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.3% of reviews | 78.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 128 | 439 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 370 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fair Oaks Labs, Inc. | Joseph Anthony Distler |
Customer experience
Taipan! Mobile
Roll
User reviews
Taipan! Mobile
From 128 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎮 Faithful recreation of classic 1980s Apple II game
- ⚡ Turbo feature speeds up lengthy battle animations
- 💾 Auto-save functionality preserves progress
- 🎯 Addictive gameplay mechanics remain engaging
- 📱 Smooth mobile adaptation with intuitive controls
Room to improve
- 💰 Deceptive freemium model with paywall after 5-15 minutes
- ⚠️ Unclear pricing disclosure at download
- 🎲 Difficulty appears artificially inflated compared to original
- 🔄 Restore purchase fails across devices requiring repayment
- 🎯 Limited gun/ship upgrade opportunities
Roll
From 439 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to play
- 👍 Addictive gameplay
- 🔒 No ads or microtransactions
- 🚀 Smooth performance
- 👍 Unique and innovative
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches
- 👎 Limited free content
- 👎 Confusing or overwhelming UI
- 👎 Lack of customization options
- 👎 Repetitive gameplay
Bugs and requests
Taipan! Mobile
Reported bugs
6 issues- Restore purchase fails on new devices, requiring repayment
- Game doesn't save properly when home button pressed mid-transaction
- Cannot trade after returning from interrupted session
- Restore purchase temporarily works then requests payment again
- Game freezes or crashes on iOS 11+ for some users
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- Starting scenario with 5 guns and 0 cash has zero progression ability
Requested features
9 requests- Sound effects and audio from original game
- Option to start with 5 guns and no debt
- Ability to purchase upgrades more frequently
- Modern graphics enhancement or Taipan 2 version
- Larger warehouse capacity and expandable storage
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- PC version availability
- Game time indicator for long sessions
- Higher gun capacity limit (beyond 1000)
- Delete previous saved games option
Roll
Reported bugs
4 issues- Upgrade shop issues
- Crashes and freezes
- Swiping/tapping issues
- Incompatibility with older devices
Requested features
5 requests- Offline mode
- More dice skins and customization
- Sandbox mode with unlimited rolls
- Improved dice management UI
- More detailed stats and analytics
In-app purchases
Taipan! Mobile
- Unlock$2.99
Roll
- Roll Premium$3.99
