Sand Trace vs Pixel Creator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Sand Trace
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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.
Pixel Creator
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Pixel Creator is a 2D pixel physics sandbox. Drop sand, water, lava, plants, animals and 430+ elements onto the canvas and watch them flow, burn, freeze, grow and react. - 430 elements across 14 categories โ terrain, liquids, life, powders, energy, nuclear, weapons, machines and more - Real physics: gravity, density, temperature, pressure, fire and chain reactions - Living ecosystems: food chains, pollination, decomposition โ and a human-form zombie outbreak you can fight with fire or a vaccine - Ready-made scenes: forest pond, coral reef, village, rainy wetland, zombie street - Discovery Codex: place elements and trigger reactions to unlock them โ hundreds of recipes to find - Goals & challenges to chase - Heat / state views, save slots, undo, sound and haptics - Fully offline. No account, no ads, no data collection โ everything runs on your device Free to play. A one-time "Full Version" unlock opens every element, scene and challenge.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sand Trace at none against Pixel Creator's 1. Sand Trace also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). Pixel Creator's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly). On price 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
Both are free to download. Pixel Creator sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sand Trace asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sand Trace ships an update fortnightly, Pixel Creator every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sand Trace | Pixel Creator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 2 days โ better |
| Ads | Yes | No โ better |
| In-app purchases | No โ better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 โ better | 16.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | HSIANG-YU HUANG | ไบ้ฃ ๅผ |
In-app purchases
Sand Trace
No in-app purchases
Pixel Creator
- Full Version$1.99







