Bust A Marble vs Puzzlation (Lite)
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bust A Marble
Connect strings of like-colored marbles to clear the board and meet score goals before time runs out. Unlock power-ups with bonus marbles and enjoy dazzling special effects and music. Compete with friends through Game Center achievements.
- Connect like-colored marbles
- Score goals before time runs out
- Unlock power-ups with bonus marbles
- 20 levels of gameplay
- Game Center achievements
- Advanced special effects and sound
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Swipe to connect matching marbles and bust colorful chains in Bust A Marble, a fast, timed puzzle game for iPhone and iPad. Build bigger groups, chase each level's score goal, and keep the clock alive with special marbles. Use clock marbles for extra seconds, unleash lightning to clear more marbles, and refresh the board when you need a new path. Connect seven or more to gain bonus time and raise your score multiplier. THE CLASSIC RETURNS Enjoy Connie's original colorful artwork, lively music, sound effects, and marble-busting action on modern iPhone and iPad screens. TWO WAYS TO PLAY Start in Classic mode with the original marbles and gameplay. The full-game purchase adds Updated mode with refreshed marble styles and a wider board layout. Switch between Classic and Updated in Settings. FEATURES - 20 levels of fast-paced marble matching - Clock, lightning, and refresh bonus marbles - Game Center scores and achievements - In-game tutorial and tips - Separate music, sound, and voice settings - Landscape play on iPhone and iPad FREE TO START Classic levels 1–9 are free. A one-time in-app purchase unlocks Classic level 10 onward and Updated mode. No subscription. Owners of the original No Ads purchase can restore it to unlock the full game at no additional charge. Use Restore Purchases on the MORE... page with the Apple Account used for the original purchase.
Puzzlation (Lite)
This game challenges you to solve color-matching puzzles by arranging pieces. Choose between "Corner Match" and "Edge Match" modes, or play in regular swap mode or slide mode. You can even challenge friends to beat your puzzle-solving time.
- Color-matching puzzles
- Corner Match and Edge Match modes
- Regular swap and slide puzzle modes
- Timed challenges
- Email puzzle challenges to friends
- Dynamically created puzzles
- Customizable color schemes
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Puzzlation creates puzzles using blocks of colors that overlap multiple puzzle pieces. The colors at the edges of two adjacent pieces must match. In "Corner Match", the colors span the corners of four adjacent pieces. In "Edge Match", the colors only span 2 edges, giving you less information about the colors of adjacent pieces - resulting in a more difficult puzzle. Games can be played as regular puzzles - where any two pieces can be swapped - or in slide mode, where there is an empty space and you must rearrange pieces by shuffling them. After solving a puzzle, challenge a friend (or rival!) to beat your time with an "email challenge". The exact puzzle is sent to the person in an email, along with a link to the app in the App Store, which they can use to open and play the puzzle. When they complete the puzzle, they will be informed if they solved it faster, slower or about the same as you did. (It is left up to them if they want to share the result back with you…) Puzzles are dynamically created, so you will never run out. Choose from 6 built-in color schemes for variety, or import other color schemes of your own creation (using the Pattern Artist app).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Puzzlation (Lite) at 5.0 against Bust A Marble's 4.1. Puzzlation (Lite) also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). Bust A Marble's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (545 vs 1). On price, ads 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. Bust A Marble sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Puzzlation (Lite) asks for nothing beyond the download.
Puzzlation (Lite) holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bust A Marble has 545 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Bust A Marble ships an update fortnightly, Puzzlation (Lite) every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bust A Marble | Puzzlation (Lite) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (545 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 87.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 545 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Fairlady Media | Kevin Brain |
Customer experience
Bust A Marble
Puzzlation (Lite)
In-app purchases
Bust A Marble
- Full Game Unlock$0.99
- Bust A Marble - No Ads!$0.99
Puzzlation (Lite)
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Bust A Marble free?
Is Puzzlation (Lite) free?
Which has better reviews, Bust A Marble or Puzzlation (Lite)?
Do Bust A Marble or Puzzlation (Lite) have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bust A Marble or Puzzlation (Lite)?
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