Comparison

Grid Journey vs Taploom

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

Head to head
About

Grid Journey

Solve puzzles by merging gems to forge a path through a mysterious cave. Explore new realms, including the Windy River, with over 500 levels. Revisit stages to improve scores or tackle ultimate challenges.

Highlights
  • Gem merging puzzles
  • Mysterious cave exploration
  • Over 500 levels
  • Windy River chapter
  • Score challenges
  • No-restart challenges
Features
Read full description

Merge gems to clear a path through a mysterious cave. What secrets will you uncover? Tickle your brain, as you find your way through an unknown realm! In the latest chapter, sail the Windy River! Now 500 levels to explore! With Challenges, revisit earlier stages of your journey to improve your scores. Or try the ultimate challenge, to complete an entire stage without any restarts!

About

Taploom

A minimalist puzzle game where you tap tiles to create color ripples that drain the board. Plan your moves to chain reactions and solve each level efficiently. Features hand-crafted levels, a daily puzzle, and an endless mode.

Highlights
  • Minimalist ripple puzzle gameplay
  • 55 hand-crafted levels
  • Daily and endless puzzle modes
  • Built-in level editor
  • Three-star scoring system
  • One-handed play
Features
Read full description

Tap a tile. Watch the color ripple outward. Drain every tile on the board. ColorDrain is a minimalist puzzle game built around one simple idea: every tap sends a wave through the grid. Plan your taps, chain the reactions, and clear each board in as few moves as possible. HOW IT PLAYS You have a board of empty tiles. Each tap fills the tapped tile and ripples outward through its neighbors. Tiles, walls, mirrors, and other obstacles shape where the color can go. Your goal is to fill the entire board, and your score depends on how cleanly you do it. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT Most puzzle games ask you to match. ColorDrain asks you to plan. The same board can be solved in five taps or twenty, and finding the elegant solution feels like solving a tiny machine. FEATURES • 55 hand-crafted levels across 11 themed rows • A fresh daily puzzle, the same seed for every player worldwide • Endless mode with seeded levels you can replay • A built-in level editor for designing and saving your own puzzles • Three-star scoring rewards efficient solutions • Built one-handed for iPhone, fully portrait, no ads, no IAP A GROWING TOOLBOX Each row of levels introduces a new tile that changes how the ripple flows: • Amplifiers boost a tap into a long beam • Mirrors bend rays around corners • Bombs detonate when filled, taking neighbors with them • Teleporters warp the ripple to their partners on the same heading • Frozen barriers thaw under bomb blasts • Canals carry rays across long distances • Prisms burst light in all four directions • Locked tiles open only when surrounded • Infection tiles spread on their own once seeded • Heart tiles are the final puzzle: protect them, route around them, or finish them last BUILT FOR THE DEVICE Every action has a haptic. Every fill has a sound. Tap placement is precise enough to play with one thumb on the bus, and slow enough to think through on the couch. No accounts. No tracking. No internet required.

Screenshots

Grid Journey4 screens
Taploom4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Taploom at none against Grid Journey's 1. Taploom also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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

Both are free to download. Grid Journey sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Taploom asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Grid Journey against 5.0 for Taploom. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Grid Journey ships an update every 2 months, Taploom every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Grid Journey versus Taploom: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrid JourneyTaploom
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size141 MB6 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperStephen RiceCylandea Systems LLC

Customer experience

Grid Journey

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Taploom

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Grid Journey

One-time1
  • Upgrade to Full Game$2.99
None

Taploom

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Grid Journey free?
Grid Journey is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Taploom free?
Taploom is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Grid Journey or Taploom?
Grid Journey and Taploom are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 4 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do Grid Journey or Taploom have ads?
Neither Grid Journey nor Taploom shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Grid Journey or Taploom?
Grid Journey ships an update every 2 months, and Taploom every 3 weeks. Most recently, Grid Journey was updated on November 3, 2026 and Taploom on October 31, 2026.

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