Comparison

Heads Up! vs ōlelō

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

Head to head
About

Heads Up!

This is a charades-style party game where players guess words displayed on a phone held to their forehead, with friends shouting clues. It offers a wide variety of themed decks and the ability to create custom categories for endless entertainment.

Highlights
  • Word guessing with friends
  • Themed card decks
  • Custom category creation
  • Tilt controls for guessing
  • Record gameplay videos
  • Play via Facetime
Features
Read full description

It's the game The New York Times called a "Sensation!" and Cosmopolitan raved “Your existence is dull and meaningless without this life-changing app!” Get ready for endless fun with Heads Up!, the exhilarating charades-style party game that's taking the world by storm. Guess the words on the screen as your friends and family shout out clues. With diverse categories ranging from Celebrities to Movies and Hilarious Accents, Heads Up! guarantees hours of laughter for everyone involved. How to Play: 1. Select from over 100 themed decks or create your own custom category! 2. Hold the phone to your forehead and let the word guessing commence! 3. Tilt down for correct answers and up to pass on challenging words. 4. Keep the fun rolling with an extensive library of engaging trivia cards! Decks You’ll Get: - Celebrity Quiz - Blockbuster Movies - Animals - Accents - Superheroes - Famous Characters - And lots more! Features: - Enjoy group play with friends, team, or even hundreds of players simultaneously. - Draw new word cards with a simple tilt of your phone. - Keep priceless memories by recording gameplay videos to keep for yourself or share on social media - Entertain everyone from trivia buffs to casual players with various difficulty levels. - Updated frequently with seasonal and topical fun, plus huge brands like Harry Potter, Marvel, Seinfeld, Friends, Star Wars, and much more! Heads Up! is the ultimate party game that combines the best elements of charades, trivia, and light-hearted team competition. Whether you're looking to liven up a family gathering or a game night with friends, this app is your ticket to endless fun. It's your super-affordable way to bring joy and laughter to any occasion. Download Heads Up! now and let the unforgettable guessing games begin!

About

ōlelō

This word strategy game combines building words with bluffing and challenging opponents. Players use private and shared letter cards to form words, with rare letters scoring higher. It offers offline play, multiple AI opponents, and a daily challenge mode.

Highlights
  • Word building with private and shared cards
  • Bluffing and challenging mechanics
  • Offline play
  • Multiple AI opponents
  • Daily challenge mode
  • Pass-and-play multiplayer
Features
Read full description

A four-letter word can beat a seven-letter one. A word that isn't real can beat both - if nobody calls it. ōlelō turns word-building into a shared-card strategy game. Each player gets two private letter cards and five shared letters to work with. Build a great word, slip in a bluff, or challenge a word that looks suspicious. At the showdown, build the highest-scoring word you can from any combination of the seven. Rare letters are worth more than common ones, so the longest word doesn't always win. Neither does the honest one. --- BLUFF - OR CALL THE BLUFF Play a word you know is real. Or risk one that isn't and hope nobody challenges it. Think your opponent made theirs up? Call the bluff. Call it correctly and their word is wiped out - and its points come off their score. Get it wrong, and those points come off yours. Every hand becomes a decision: find a better word, risk a bluff, or decide whether you believe the word in front of you. --- FREE TO PLAY. OFFLINE BY DESIGN. ōlelō is built to be a game you can simply download and play offline, on the plane, on road trips. * No ads. We hate ads. * No tracking. * No account required. Complete anonymity. Once downloaded, ōlelō is fully playable offline. Internet access is only needed when making an optional in-app purchase. The free game includes: * Full game mode - 2 version, BIG TOP, and LITTLE TOP * Daily Challenge * Up to six-player pass-and-play * Four AI opponents - 2 easy and 2 hard challengers * Four themed card decks Optional purchases only add more themed decks and AI opponents. No energy meters. No lives. No waiting to play again. --- PLAY YOUR WAY - PLAY WITH FRIENDS or WITH AI BOTS 10 HIGHLY OPINIONATED AI OPPONENTS Take on a cast of colorful bots with their own personalities and difficulty levels - from Jester-Bot and Professor Hoot which are easy bots to COGNIS and opponents that won't go easy on you. Four opponents, 2 easy and 2 hard, are included free. The rest can be unlocked together. --- UP TO 6 PLAYERS. ONE DEVICE. Pass the iPhone - or place an iPad in the middle of the table - and play together with up to six players. No second device. No internet connection. No account required. --- DAILY CHALLENGE One challenge per day against one of the AI Bots. Everyone gets the same cards each day. Find the highest-scoring word you can, beat the bot and keep your streak alive, and earn badges at 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 points. Earn a special badge if you beat all 10 AI Bots in a row. Share your Daily Challenge score with friends by text and see how your results compare. Reach the milestones and unlock special card decks that can't be bought - they have to be earned. --- LITTLE TOP - Another way to play A gentler version of the full game for newer spellers. Vowels are always in the shared cards, hand cards are consonants, and players can table two words instead of one. It's an easier way to start building words while still playing the same strategy-based game. Think "See Spot Run" or "Cat in the Hat". Simple smaller words. --- DISCOVER NEW WORDS AS YOU PLAY A greater than 50,000-word dictionary is built right into ōlelō - and every word has a definition. Tap the dictionary icon of an unfamiliar word to see what it means. Kids can practice spelling and discover new words naturally while they're focused on playing, not studying. --- 26 THEMED CARD DECKS Change the look of the game with themed decks featuring kittens, puppies, landmarks, Greek mythology, military call letters and more. Additional decks are entirely optional and entirely cosmetic. --- MADE FOR PLAY, NOT DATA ōlelō doesn't collect personal information or monitor your gameplay. Just open the game and play. --- EASY TO LEARN. HARD TO MASTER. Can you find a higher-scoring word? Should you risk one that isn't real? Is your opponent bluffing? And do you dare find out? * Build the word. * Play the bluff. * Make the challenge.

Screenshots

Heads Up!4 screens
ōlelō4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ōlelō at 100% against Heads Up!'s 33%. ōlelō also leads on price (Free vs $1.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). Heads Up!'s advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks) and ratings volume (300K vs 5). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

ōlelō is free to download; Heads Up! costs $1.99 up front. Heads Up! sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and ōlelō sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ōlelō holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Heads Up! has 300K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Heads Up!'s written reviews are positive against 100% of ōlelō's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Heads Up! ships an update weekly, ōlelō every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Heads Up! versus ōlelō: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHeads Up!ōlelō
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (300K ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews32.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings300K — better5
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#1 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size204 MB114 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperWarner Bros.Dinu Madau

Customer experience

Heads Up!

All ratings299,574 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews985 reviews
Positive32.8%
Neutral8.5%
Negative58.7%

ōlelō

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Heads Up!

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Purchased decks disappearing or not restoring
  • Freezing and crashing on certain devices
  • Inaccurate voice recognition and gesture detection

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to adjust game timer length
  • More free content and decks
  • Improved deck management and organization
  • Better customer support and communication

ōlelō

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Heads Up!

One-time11
  • Just For KidsFree
  • The Ellen ShowFree
  • Mix It UpFree
Show 8 more
  • Branded$1.99
  • That's So 90s$1.99
  • Food Fight$1.99
  • Super Heroes$1.99
  • Adult Supervision$1.99
  • Adult Supervision 2: Even Adultier$1.99
  • Happy Holidays$1.99
  • Adults Only! Bundle$7.99
9 purchases

ōlelō

One-time9
  • Critters & Diggers Card Decks$1.99
  • Wildlife Card Decks$1.99
  • Transportation Card Decks$1.99
Show 6 more
  • Travel Card Decks$1.99
  • Fantasy Card Decks$1.99
  • Military Card Decks$1.99
  • AI Bots$3.99
  • All Deck Packs$4.99
  • Everything Bundle$7.99

Questions

Is Heads Up! free?
Heads Up! costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is ōlelō free?
ōlelō is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Heads Up! or ōlelō?
ōlelō is rated higher. Heads Up! averages 4.8 out of 5 from 300K ratings, while ōlelō averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Do Heads Up! or ōlelō have ads?
Neither Heads Up! nor ōlelō shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Heads Up! or ōlelō?
Heads Up! ships an update weekly, and ōlelō every 6 weeks. Most recently, Heads Up! was updated on November 2, 2026 and ōlelō on October 31, 2026.

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