Comparison

Tesserae! vs PointYourPhone

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

Head to head
About

Tesserae!

A minimalist puzzle game focused on calm, strategic tile-matching. Swipe, jump, and combine tiles across handcrafted boards to clear the grid. Offers a distraction-free experience with no ads or timers.

Highlights
  • Minimalist design
  • Handcrafted puzzle boards
  • Strategic tile combination
  • Multiple solution paths
  • Leaderboard scoring
  • iCloud sync
  • Game Center achievements
Features
Read full description

Tesserae is a minimalist, color-matching puzzle game designed for calm focus and strategic play. Swipe, jump, and combine tiles across handcrafted boards to clear the grid — one satisfying move at a time. Built with an minimalist-style design philosophy, Tesserae is clean, modern, and distraction-free: no ads, no timers, no noise. Just pure puzzle-solving. Features • Elegant Design – Modern, tactile, minimal-inspired interface. • Challenging Levels – Multiple handcrafted boards with increasing complexity. • Strategic Depth – Different tile types (primary, secondary, tertiary) each with unique move rules. • Replayability – Multiple solution paths and leaderboard scoring. • iCloud Sync (Tesserae+): Pick up where you left off across all devices. • Game Center (Tesserae+): Unlock achievements and compete on leaderboards. • No Ads. No Distractions. Just puzzles and you. Unlock the full experience with Tesserae+: • Access to all levels and difficulty tiers (Easy → Diabolical). • iCloud sync across iPhone and iPad. • Game Center achievements and leaderboards. • A one-time purchase that supports continued development (no subscriptions, no ads). Whether you’re looking for a quick brain teaser or a deep puzzle challenge, Tesserae delivers a beautifully simple yet strategically rich experience.

About

PointYourPhone

Features
Read full description

Where is the Eiffel Tower right now? Not on a map. From where you are standing, through walls, across oceans, which way is it? PointYourPhone gives you one target every day: a famous landmark or a world city. Point your phone straight at it, lock in your direction, and the globe reveals how close you were, down to the degree. HOW IT WORKS - Every day at noon (Amsterdam time), everyone in the world gets the same target - Aim your phone and lock it in. No map, no cheating, just your sense of direction - Watch the globe spin to the answer and see your guess next to the true direction - Build a streak by playing every day HINTS, IF YOU WANT THEM Stuck? Reveal the compass directions, the country, or the continent. Your score stays yours; hints just tell your friends you needed a little help. SHARE WITHOUT SPOILING Share your score card with fellow players (no spoilers), or share the full globe reveal with friends who have not played yet. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No tracking. Your location is used on your phone to compute a direction and never leaves it. Can you point at Machu Picchu from your kitchen? There is one way to find out.

Screenshots

Tesserae!4 screens
PointYourPhone3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PointYourPhone at none against Tesserae!'s 1. Tesserae!'s advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 4 weeks). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Tesserae! sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PointYourPhone asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tesserae! ships an update weekly, PointYourPhone every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Tesserae! versus PointYourPhone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTesserae!PointYourPhone
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.616.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTap Things, Inc.Ronald Butzelaar

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Tesserae!

One-time1
  • Tesserae+ Upgrade$2.99
None

PointYourPhone

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tesserae! free?
Tesserae! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PointYourPhone free?
PointYourPhone is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Tesserae! or PointYourPhone have ads?
Neither Tesserae! nor PointYourPhone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tesserae! or PointYourPhone?
Tesserae! ships an update weekly, and PointYourPhone every 4 weeks. Most recently, Tesserae! was updated on October 7, 2026 and PointYourPhone on October 25, 2026.

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