Comparison

The Tiny Bang Story vs Shadowmatic

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

Head to head
About

The Tiny Bang Story

Restore a shattered planet by fixing machines and solving puzzles. This hand-drawn adventure game offers five chapters filled with brain teasers and an immersive atmosphere. It's suitable for all ages and requires no reading.

Highlights
  • Fix machines and mechanisms
  • Solve puzzles
  • Five chapters
  • Over 30 brain teasers
  • Hand-drawn world
  • Simple navigation
Features
Read full description

Life on Tiny Planet was calm and carefree until a great disaster occurred - Tiny Planet was hit by a meteor! The world fell apart and now its future depends only on you! Use your imagination and creativity: in order to restore Tiny Planet and help its inhabitants you will have to fix a variety of machines and mechanisms as well as solve puzzles in each of the five chapters of this game. Navigation is simple and intuitive. It doesn't distract you from the witty brain teasers, and you will be able to fully immerse yourself in the unique atmosphere of the game. *There is no text in this game. It is fun for all ages and suitable for the whole family! *Five vastly different chapters and over 30 exciting brain teasers (minigames) *A bright, gorgeous world drawn entirely by hand *Absorbing game play and simple navigation *10 enchanting musical themes - #1 Top Paid Apps for iOS in UK, Japan, German, Russia - Top 10 Best Games and Top 5 Best Adventure Games of 2011 by Gamezebo - Best Games of 2011 by GameHouse - Top 100 Best Indie Games of 2011 by Indie DB. - Top 10 on Mac App Store in more countries, TOP 1 - in Japan, Russia, Taiwan, China.

About

Shadowmatic

Rotate abstract objects in a spotlight to cast recognizable silhouettes. Explore unique environments with captivating music and stunning visuals. Discover unexpected shapes and solve mind-bending puzzles.

Highlights
  • Rotate abstract objects
  • Create recognizable silhouettes
  • Stunning visuals
  • Relaxing gameplay
  • Unique thematic environments
  • Assistant button for hints
Features
Read full description

** Apple Design Award Winner ** ** App Store Best of 2015 ** Shadowmatic is an imagination-stirring puzzle where you rotate abstract objects in a spotlight to find recognizable silhouettes in projected shadows, relevant to the surrounding environment. “Other Worlds” is a chapter of Shadowmatic with over 30 levels in 3 unique thematic environments: Ancient Worlds, Music and Space. The chapter is available as a separate purchase. The game combines stunning visuals with relaxing and captivating gameplay. On your journey to discover the right solution you will stumble upon many unexpected and infinitely varied silhouettes. The game features 15 rooms, each flavored with unique concept, atmosphere, and music. - - - - - - - - - - “Simple to the point of beauty, and beautiful to the point of becoming a work of art, this is a game you won't want to win, because you won't want the experience to end” - Pocket Gamer “It's fun, it's unique, and it's the perfect type of game to show off to people who typically don't play video games, as it's almost like an interactive piece of art” - Touch Arcade “It’s always awesome to see a breathtaking, unique, and thoroughly innovative puzzle game pop up on the App Store” - Macworld “Full of whimsical puzzles and thoughtful designs, Shadowmatic is a delightful and captivating iOS game” - CNET “'Fantastically original': Shadowmatic works modern-day wonders with the ancient Chinese art of shadow puppetry” - The Guardian “It’s like a mind-bending shadow-puppet spectacle” - TIME “This game requires you to look at things a little differently” - Washington Post - - - - - - - - - - Hints. The game includes a system of hints. To enjoy the game to its fullest, however, we recommend resorting to them on rare occasions only. Assistant Button. The Assistant button in the upper right corner will help you solve the puzzle by gradually rotating the objects in the correct direction. When you press the button, Hint-Points are used Music. Every room in the game features its own music arrangement, adding up to the distinctive atmosphere and feel in each. The music is best experienced with headphones, and is available separately on iTunes. -- More than 130 levels in 15 unique environments -- Gorgeous graphics -- Secondary objectives -- Assistant Button -- Nonlinear level progression -- 3D parallax view -- Achievements -- Arcade Mode -- Synchronization with Apple TV ** The game is optimized for every iOS device separately (starting from iPhone 5s and newer), however it's best experienced on the latest devices. Follow us on Twitter: @ShadowmaticGame Join us on Facebook: @Shadowmatic Follow us on Instagram: @Shadowmatic Questions? Shoot us an email: support@triadastudiogames.com ----------------------------------------------------- Triada Studio is a computer graphics and animation studio with over 20 years of industry experience. Shadowmatic is the company’s first project that bridges its vast computer graphics experience with an experimental in-house 3D engine.

Screenshots

The Tiny Bang Story4 screens
Shadowmatic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Tiny Bang Story at none against Shadowmatic's 5. Shadowmatic's advantage is review sentiment (86% vs 64%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 8 months). On ratings volume, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

The Tiny Bang Story costs $4.99 and Shadowmatic $3.99 up front. Shadowmatic sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. The Tiny Bang Story asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shadowmatic holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 894 and 2.1K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of The Tiny Bang Story's written reviews are positive against 86% of Shadowmatic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Tiny Bang Story ships an update every 8 months, Shadowmatic every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
The Tiny Bang Story versus Shadowmatic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Tiny Bang StoryShadowmatic
Price$4.99$3.99 — better
Rating4.6 (894 ratings)4.8 (2.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.5% of reviews85.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8942.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#23 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS12.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size120 MB388 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEllada Games LLCTRIADA Studio

Customer experience

The Tiny Bang Story

All ratings894 ratings
Positive89.1%
Neutral2.9%
Negative7.9%
Written reviews381 reviews
Positive63.5%
Neutral10.2%
Negative26.2%

Shadowmatic

All ratings2,090 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral2.2%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews423 reviews
Positive85.8%
Neutral5.4%
Negative8.7%

User reviews

The Tiny Bang Story

From 894 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Charming graphics
  • 🎨 Beautiful artwork
  • 🎶 Relaxing music
  • 💡 Unique and engaging puzzles
  • 🕹️ Challenging but not too difficult

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes, especially at later levels
  • 🔍 Tiny objects hard to see and click on mobile
  • 🤯 Some puzzles too difficult without hints
  • 🔍 Lack of zoom or magnification
  • 🕰️ Game is too short

Shadowmatic

From 2.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Unique and creative gameplay
  • 👍 Relaxing and calming experience
  • 🎨 Beautiful graphics and visuals
  • 🧠 Challenging puzzles that exercise the mind
  • 🎶 Soothing background music

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Precision issues with controls, especially for complex puzzles
  • 🤔 Unclear objectives at times, making it difficult to understand what the desired solution is
  • ⏱️ Frustration when getting stuck on a puzzle for a long time
  • 👀 Difficult for left-handed players due to the positioning of the controls

Bugs and requests

The Tiny Bang Story

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game crashes at certain points
  • Puzzle pieces not registering properly
  • Elevator button not working
  • Last puzzle piece impossible to find

Requested features

5 requests
  • More levels and content
  • Ability to skip puzzles
  • Better tutorial and hints
  • Zoom and magnification options
  • Cloud save/sync across devices

Shadowmatic

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Crashes or freezes on certain devices, especially newer iPad models
  • Progress not saving properly, causing players to lose progress

Requested features

4 requests
  • More levels and new puzzle types to keep the game fresh
  • Ability to save progress and resume puzzles
  • Option to mirror the game screen for left-handed players
  • Hints that provide more useful guidance, not just the final solution

In-app purchases

None

The Tiny Bang Story

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Shadowmatic

One-time5
  • Pack of 20 Hint-Points$0.99
  • "Other Worlds" chapter$1.99
  • Pack of 50 Hint-Points$1.99
Show 2 more
  • Pack of 150 Hint-Points$3.99
  • Pack of 500 Hint-Points$7.99

Questions

Is The Tiny Bang Story free?
The Tiny Bang Story costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shadowmatic free?
Shadowmatic costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, The Tiny Bang Story or Shadowmatic?
Shadowmatic is rated higher. The Tiny Bang Story averages 4.6 out of 5 from 894 ratings, while Shadowmatic averages 4.8 from 2.1K ratings.
Do The Tiny Bang Story or Shadowmatic have ads?
Neither The Tiny Bang Story nor Shadowmatic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Tiny Bang Story or Shadowmatic?
The Tiny Bang Story ships an update every 8 months, and Shadowmatic every 2 months. Most recently, The Tiny Bang Story was updated on September 23, 2026 and Shadowmatic on September 22, 2026.

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