Howl vs Dial Drop
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Howl
Engage in turn-based tactical combat within a dark fairy-tale world threatened by a mysterious plague. Play as a deaf heroine who can foresee enemy moves, utilizing unique arrows and skills to defeat beasts. Explore beautifully illustrated environments and uncover secrets.
- Turn-based tactical combat
- Foretell enemy moves
- Variety of arrow types
- Unlockable skills and upgrades
- Living ink art style
- Multiple chapters and levels
- Save villagers
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This game is free to download and play for a limited number of levels and time. Do you like the game? Then you can easily unlock the full version through the in App purchase! Howl is a turn-based puzzle/tactical folktale set in the Middle Ages, where a mysterious "howling plague" ravages the land. Any who hear the beasts’ howls turn into feral, hungering beasts themselves – further spreading the curse through their own howls. The Heroine of this tale was born deaf, giving her a unique protection against this curse. Play as a daring combat Prophet with the ability to foretell your enemies’ moves. Plan up to six steps ahead to outmaneuver your enemies. Fire a variety of arrows, such as exploding, lightning, or piercing shots, and use skills like Smoke Bombs and Shadow Step’s Invisibility to kill any beasts who stand in your way. Each type of beast offers its own challenges, with some approaching fast, while others taking more powerful hits or attacking from afar. Howl's visuals are created through "living ink", a flowing art style that paints the story as you play. Carve your way through a dark, fairy-tale world made up of obscure yet magical places where you fight to rid the lands of the howling plague. Howl features a total of 5 chapters, including the free Heart of Rot update, each with a distinct visual atmosphere scored by soothing music. Access to this update is FREE for anyone who has bought the Howl base game. You can access this update chapter from the Chapter 3 map at any point after reaching Chapter 3 of the main story. This update features its own chapter map, new enemies, a new boss level, new environment mechanics, the new Lightning Shot skill (which, once unlocked, can be used in the main game!), and an NPC who fights by your side in later levels. Features • Foretell the actions of your enemies in turn-based puzzle/tactics combat. • Play through 60 levels across 4 chapters, plus 18 new levels in the free update chapter! • Beautifully illustrated in a unique, living ink art style. • Outsmart the different wolf species, from fast predators to enormous pack leaders. • Unlock and upgrade new skills like Shadow Step, Exploding Shot, and more. • Save villagers from the claws – and howls – of the wolves. • Plot your route on the world map to uncover new skills and secret paths.
Dial Drop
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Set the dial. Release. Watch your committed precision survive the chaos. Dial Drop is a one-thumb skill game with a single, honest idea: you get one dial and one ball. Before each drop you commit a single precise value, then lift your thumb to release. The ball falls through a fixed course of bumpers, baskets, and pegs — and tiny differences in your value send it to wildly different places. You can't steer mid-flight. All of your skill is spent ahead of time, in choosing the number. THE HOOK Because the course is fully deterministic, every miss has an exact answer — never a guess. The coach proves it: on the first level of every zone it reveals the exact dial that would have dropped it home, with a ghost trajectory and a clear "you were 3 too hard." Failure is taught, never punished. Once you've learned to read the course, every near-miss pulls you back for one more. WHAT YOU GET • 300 hand-tuned levels across 30 distinct zones • A difficulty curve that starts forgiving and tightens to a needle • Floor cups, wall-mounted baskets, moving targets, gravity wells, wind, and bouncy materials • Swish detection — thread it clean for the satisfying drop • A cosmetic shop: 44 ball skins and 39 trails, all earned by playing (never pay-to-win) • Full offline play — no account, no sign-in, no internet required • One-thumb portrait controls, silent-playable NO TRICKS No timers. No energy. No lives. No gacha. No FOMO. Just a clean skill loop you can put down and pick up. Your progress is saved on your device and goes nowhere else. Dial Drop is a near-miss machine where the near-miss is real — measured to the tick. Set the dial. Trust your read. Drop.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Howl at none against Dial Drop's shown. Howl also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Dial Drop's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, in-app purchases 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. Howl sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Dial Drop sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Howl ships an update every 3 weeks, Dial Drop every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Howl | Dial Drop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (65 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 78.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 65 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 477 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | astragon Entertainment GmbH | Jordan Drake |
Bugs and requests
Howl
Reported bugs
8 issues- Arrow card hidden by sidebar UI on left screen edge
- Text bubbles blocking enemy action information
- Save data not persisting after app closure
- UI elements too small to read on iPhone
- Tooltip descriptions not displaying correctly
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- Hover mechanics don't work on iPad
- Specific level completion issues (Tower chapter)
- Yellow completion symbol blends with map background
Requested features
10 requests- Movable text bubbles to prevent obstruction
- Character gender/pronoun customization
- More levels and expanded content
- Language localization (Vietnamese, German, etc.)
- UI scaling for smaller phones
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- Ability to select language for voice acting
- More detailed story development
- 3D graphics enhancement
- Clearer level count visibility upfront
- Improved tooltip system for mobile
Dial Drop
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Howl
- Upgrade to Full Version$3.99
Dial Drop
- Starter Coin Pack$0.99
- Handful of Coins`$2.49
- Remove Ads$3.99
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- Coin Stack$4.99
- Coin Pile$9.99
- Coin Vault$19.99









