Comparison

Spirits vs Overwords

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

Head to head
About

Spirits

Guide spirits home by manipulating the environment. Sacrifice spirits to build bridges, create wind clouds, dig tunnels, or block wind. Solve each level creatively to reach the goal.

Highlights
  • Guide spirits without direct control
  • Manipulate wind and ground
  • Sacrifice spirits for actions
  • Build leaf bridges
  • Create wind clouds
  • Dig tunnels
  • Block wind currents
Features
Read full description

"Art so beautiful it could have been lifted from a Miyazaki movie." –WIRED Autumn is coming. Leaves fall, and spirits rise from the fallen leaves to begin their journey home. You must guide them, without direct control, by changing how the wind blows or by rebuilding the ground. Each spirit can be sacrificed to perform one of four actions - build a bridge of leaves, create a blowing cloud, dig tunnels, or block wind currents in an area. Use your actions wisely or you will run out of spirits. In each level it's up to you to find your own creative solution on how to get the spirits to the goal. ◆◆◆◆◆ REVIEWS ◆◆◆◆◆ "Striking art and innovative gameplay" –The Escapist "Spirits is clever, challenging, and beautiful" –Gamasutra "Spirits is an outstanding blend of puzzle and strategy" –DIYgamer "The overall design -- graphics, animation, audio tracks -- as well as the whimsical element of soaring on the wind, really make this an enjoyable title to experience" –TouchArcade "Gorgeous visuals; ambient music; solid level design" –Slide To Play "Where Spirits really innovates is in its look and feel. When the wind physics start to do their thing, the experience is pretty magical" –TUAW, Mike Schramm "Spirits is more than just a pretty face, as you'll utilize little creatures to build ladders, dig tunnels, or blow gusts of wind to get their counterparts to an exit. It's similar to what we've seen in Lemmings or Downstream Panic, but the use of wind and the diverse puzzles keep things fresh and interesting" –GamesRadar "Relaxing, stunning, and simple will keep players coming back for more" –148Apps "Visually, the game is gorgeous. Everything has a soft, ethereal vibe to it, particularly the soothing ambient music and the challenging (but not frustrating) level design" –The Mac Gamer "There is so much attention to detail in this game that once you have finished it you will want to play it all over again" –CreativeApplications.net ◆◆◆◆◆ AWARDS ◆◆◆◆◆ Winner of the IndieCade "Best Aesthetics" Award, Culver City, California, USA – 2010 IGF 2011: Best Mobile Game - Honorable mention Sense of Wonder Night Selection at Tokyo Game Show, Japan – 2010 Gamasutra's Best Of 2010: Top 5 iOS Games - Honorable mention ◆◆◆◆◆ VIDEO & SUPPORT ◆◆◆◆◆ Visit www.spacesofplay.com/spirits to watch a gameplay video. Search on YouTube for walkthroughs of all levels in Spirits. For questions and support send emails to support@spacesofplay.com. Supports Retina Display with high resolution graphics. If you experience technical problems, please try to reboot your device.

About

Overwords

A minimalist word-puzzle game where you stack words to expand the board. Overlapping letters fuse into new words, requiring careful planning for a calm, distraction-free experience. Enjoy pure gameplay with no ads or in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • Minimalist design
  • Distraction-free gameplay
  • Word stacking mechanics
  • Board expansion
  • Relaxing audio
  • 30 levels
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Overwords is a calm, minimalist word‑puzzle about stacking words. Pick a word, place it on the board, and let overlapping letters fuse into new words—plan carefully, expand the board. • Minimalist, distraction‑free design • 30 levels with free updates ahead • Relaxing audio landscape • No ads, no in‑app purchases—pure, gameplay‑first focus • Support a passionate solo developer Thanks for playing!

Screenshots

Spirits4 screens
Overwords4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Overwords at 4.7 against Spirits's 3.6. Overwords also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 3 months) and chart position (#176 vs unranked). Spirits's advantage is ratings volume (65 vs 9) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 13.0). On price, review sentiment, 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

Spirits costs $2.99 and Overwords $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Overwords holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spirits has 65 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 89% of Spirits's written reviews are positive against 83% of Overwords's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spirits ships an update every 3 months, Overwords daily. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Spirits versus Overwords: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpiritsOverwords
Price$2.99$2.99
Rating3.6 (65 ratings)4.7 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews88.6% of reviews — better83.3% of reviews
Number of ratings65 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#176 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB118 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSpaces of Play UGMaciej Targoni

Customer experience

Spirits

All ratings65 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral9.2%
Negative30.8%
Written reviews316 reviews
Positive88.6%
Neutral2.2%
Negative9.2%

Overwords

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Spirits

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game freezes on loading screen
  • Spirits get stuck or behave unpredictably
  • Compatibility issues with certain devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • More levels and content updates
  • Ability to skip or speed up levels
  • Optimization for newer devices and screen sizes
  • Customizable music or sound options

Overwords

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Spirits

No in-app purchases

None

Overwords

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Spirits free?
Spirits costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Overwords free?
Overwords costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Spirits or Overwords?
Overwords is rated higher. Spirits averages 3.6 out of 5 from 65 ratings, while Overwords averages 4.7 from 9 ratings.
Do Spirits or Overwords have ads?
Neither Spirits nor Overwords shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Spirits or Overwords?
Spirits ships an update every 3 months, and Overwords daily. Most recently, Spirits was updated on November 1, 2026 and Overwords on October 30, 2026.

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