Comparison

Sand Trace vs Planetoids Vortex

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

Head to head
About

Sand Trace

Features
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Drop sand, pour water, ignite fire, and watch real physics come to life. Sand Trace is a pixel-art physics simulator where you paint with 16 different materials and watch them interact in surprising ways. WHAT YOU CAN CREATE - Drop sand, stone, and glass to build structures - Pour water, oil, and acid to watch fluids flow - Ignite wood, oil, and plants to set off massive fires - Spawn lava to melt ice and turn water to stone - Launch missiles and detonate explosives for chain reactions - Electrify water with lightning bolts - Grow forests by placing plants near water - Heat sand into glass for permanent structures 16 MATERIALS, 40+ INTERACTIONS Every material has unique physics. Sand falls and piles up. Water flows and extinguishes fire. Lava melts ice and hardens into stone. Acid corrodes nearly everything. Lightning electrifies water in a spreading chain. Oil floats on water and burns with thick smoke. Plants grow toward water and catch fire easily. Discover every interaction through experimentation. PIXEL-ART WORLD Watch your creations come alive in a crisp, retro-style pixel grid. Every grain of sand, every drop of water, and every spark of fire is simulated individually for a satisfying, tactile experience. PRESET SCENES Jump right in with 5 handcrafted scenes: - Volcano: Watch lava flow and interact with water - Rain: Peaceful rainfall on a landscape - Acid Rain: Destructive downpour that corrodes everything - Forest Fire: A blazing wildfire spreading through trees - Aquarium: A tranquil underwater scene SAVE, RECORD, SHARE - Save and load your creations anytime - Record MP4 videos of your simulations - Take screenshots to share your pixel-art worlds - Works on both iPhone and iPad with responsive layout Download Sand Trace today and start experimenting with physics.

About

Planetoids Vortex

Features
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Planetoids is a pixel-art arcade shooter for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. One ship. Endless asteroids. How long can you last? Inspired by the timeless Atari Asteroids, Planetoids brings the classic formula into the modern Apple ecosystem with a colour-coded asteroid system, power-up pickups, enemy saucers, and boss waves โ€” all wrapped in a distinctive retro pixel aesthetic. THE FIELD Five asteroid colours. Each one behaves differently. Red moves fast. Green splits into three. Purple hunts you at close range. Orange drops power-ups when destroyed. Yellow blinds you on impact. Learning what each colour means โ€” and adjusting your strategy accordingly โ€” is the game within the game. YOUR SHIP Newtonian physics. No brakes. Thrust in one direction and you keep moving until you thrust the other way. Mastering your momentum is the entire skill of Planetoids. It takes minutes to learn and years to perfect. ENEMY SAUCERS Two types. The Large Saucer fires randomly โ€” dangerous through bad luck alone. The Small Saucer aims directly at you with accuracy that improves every level. At 1,000 points it is the highest-value target in the game. It is also trying to kill you. POWER-UPS Spread Shot. Rapid Fire. Shield. Speed Boost. Score Multiplier. Five pickups drop from destroyed asteroids. Each lasts seconds. Each can turn a losing situation into a winning one โ€” or tempt you into a mistake. BOSS WAVES Every five levels, a single enormous Planet Asteroid replaces the normal wave. Five hits to crack it open. Four large asteroids explode from the wreckage. The field is not clear when the boss breaks โ€” it is just beginning. FEATURES โ€ข Gamepad support on all platforms โ€” MFi, Xbox Series, PlayStation DualSense โ€ข Keyboard support on Mac โ€” full arrow key and WASD โ€ข Touch controls on iPhone and iPad when no gamepad is connected โ€ข Windowed and fullscreen modes on Mac โ€ข Game Center leaderboards โ€” All-Time, Weekly, and Highest Level โ€ข 17 achievements including secret challenges โ€ข iCloud sync โ€” your high score follows you across every device โ€ข Dynamic Island support on iPhone 14 Pro and later โ€ข Haptic feedback on iPhone and iPad โ€ข No ads. No in-app purchases. No subscriptions. A NOTE ON DIFFICULTY Planetoids does not end. There is no final level, no credits sequence, no congratulation screen. The waves keep coming and they keep getting harder. The goal is simply to survive longer than you did last time. Every death is survivable in retrospect. The field is always fair. How far can you go?

Screenshots

Sand Trace4 screens
Planetoids Vortex4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Planetoids Vortex at none against Sand Trace's shown. Sand Trace's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sand Trace ships an update fortnightly, Planetoids Vortex every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Sand Trace versus Planetoids Vortex: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSand TracePlanetoids Vortex
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 10 days โ€” better
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple TV
Requires iOS13.0 โ€” better18.6
Further details โ€” not scored
Size22 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHSIANG-YU HUANGAlphaworks

In-app purchases

None

Sand Trace

No in-app purchases

None

Planetoids Vortex

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sand Trace free?
Sand Trace is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Planetoids Vortex free?
Planetoids Vortex is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Sand Trace or Planetoids Vortex have ads?
Sand Trace shows ads; Planetoids Vortex does not.
Which is updated more often, Sand Trace or Planetoids Vortex?
Sand Trace ships an update fortnightly, and Planetoids Vortex every 10 days. Most recently, Sand Trace was updated on October 2, 2026 and Planetoids Vortex on October 14, 2026.

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