Comparison

Polar Cipher vs TANGENT

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

Head to head
About

Polar Cipher

Engage in a strategic ice-puzzle adventure where careful planning and precise movements are key to solving each level. Progress through a multi-chapter story with increasing difficulty, unique challenges, and rewarding progression. Unlock power-ups and cosmetic items as you master the game.

Highlights
  • Handcrafted puzzle levels
  • Strategy-focused gameplay
  • 3-star level goals
  • Unlockable power-ups
  • Cosmetic player skins
  • Optional expansion packs
Read full description

Polar Cipher is a handcrafted ice-puzzle adventure where every move matters. Glide across frozen boards, read the layout, and solve each stage with smart planning and precision. The main story starts accessible and gradually introduces tougher puzzle ideas, tricky hazards, and more demanding routes that reward careful thinking. Whether you want a quick puzzle break or a longer strategy session, Polar Cipher is built for satisfying, replayable progression. Features: Handcrafted puzzle levels across a multi-chapter main story Crisp, strategy-focused gameplay built around planning your route 3-star level goals for extra challenge and replay value Best-score / best-move improvement goals for perfectionists Earn crystals through play and use them in the store Unlock helpful power-ups like Hammer, Grippy Shoes, Safety Bubble, and Map Scan Unlock cosmetic player skins Optional expansion level packs Optional Remove Ads purchase If you enjoy puzzle games that mix logic, planning, and clean progression, Polar Cipher delivers a focused challenge you can keep coming back to. Contains optional in-app purchases.

About

TANGENT

This logic puzzle game challenges you to land every dot in its socket using a single, exact rule. With no timers or luck involved, it offers a satisfyingly precise and mentally stimulating experience. Explore various difficulty levels and unique mechanics across multiple orbits.

Highlights
  • One exact rule for gameplay
  • No timers or luck involved
  • Endless, procedurally generated boards
  • Six distinct difficulty orbits
  • Daily brain teasers
  • Supports VoiceOver and Dynamic Type
Features
Read full description

Rings turn one notch per tap. A dot can hop to the next ring only at the exact moment two rings kiss. Land every dot in its socket in the fewest moves. A logic puzzle with one exact rule, no timer and no luck. NEW IN 2.0: ENDLESS A fresh board every time, made on your phone and proved by the solver before you see it. Six difficulties, drawn at random after an easy start, from gentler than Orbit 1 to as tough as Orbit 6. Solve at par to grow your chain. No timer, no lives, no end. ONE RULE, EXACT Tap anywhere and every ring clicks round by its own spin: +1, −1, +2, or not at all. Tap a dot while it sits at a kiss and it arcs across to the touching ring. That is the whole game. Nothing is random inside a level and nothing is timed, so every board is a small piece of clockwork you can read before you touch it. THE CLICK OF GEARS MESHING The feeling you chase is the socket swinging into the kiss as the dot arrives. Every tick, hop and dock has its own sound, haptic and light: the notch marks blink in sequence, the hop leaves a luminous trail, the socket blooms, and a solved level ends on one calm chord. 120 LEVELS IN SIX ORBITS Every level was generated and proved by a solver, so par is the true minimum and a level is never unsolvable, only over par. Every orbit is free to reach: earn 40 stars in one and the next opens. Each adds one twist: • Kiss – two rings, one dot, one socket. Learn the hop. • Wall – a stop bar rides the ring and refuses a landing. • Flip – a marked notch sends its ring the other way. • Three – a third dot, and three colors to route at once. • Still – rings that do not turn, and mixed spins. • Tangent – everything, on twelve-notch rings. Three stars means par. Undo is free and unlimited, restart is free, and one hint per level shows the solver’s next move. ONE DAILY, ONE STREAK A new brain teaser every day, built on your phone from the date, the same for everyone. Par is shown before you start. Solve it and your streak grows; share the result as text, not a screenshot. Reminders are optional, up to three a day, and stop once the day’s puzzle is solved. MADE TO BE READ Every dot and socket carries a shape as well as a color, so no rule depends on color alone. Reduce Motion turns every pulse and burst into a fade. VoiceOver and Dynamic Type are supported throughout. Sessions are two to five minutes, one-handed, and every move is saved, so you can put the phone down mid-level and pick up exactly where you were. WHAT’S INCLUDED • Game Center: leaderboards for total stars and best streak, seven achievements. • iCloud: your progress follows you to a new phone. • No account, no in-app currency, no lives, no timers. FREE TO PLAY, ONE UNLOCK TANGENT is free to play, with ads: a banner on the menu screens, never on the board, and now and then a short ad between puzzles. TANGENT Full Game ($4.99, once, no subscription) removes every ad, opens all six orbits at once, and adds the daily archive of the past 30 days and Skip board in Endless. Without it, you can watch an ad to skip an Endless board. Restore Purchases and offer-code redemption are on the Unlock screen and in Settings. Privacy Policy: https://tangent.devera.app/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Polar Cipher4 screens
TANGENT4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Polar Cipher at weekly against TANGENT's every 3 weeks. Polar Cipher also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). 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. Polar Cipher sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and TANGENT sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Polar Cipher against 5.0 for TANGENT. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Polar Cipher ships an update weekly, TANGENT every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Polar Cipher versus TANGENT: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPolar CipherTANGENT
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size165 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOvertime Innovations LLCFarzin Tavakoli

Customer experience

Polar Cipher

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

TANGENT

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Polar Cipher

One-time8
  • 500 Crystals$0.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • 2,000 Crystals$2.99
Show 5 more
  • Frozen Meridian Level Pack$3.99
  • Icewind Corridor Level Pack$3.99
  • Black Ice Bastion Level Pack$4.99
  • 5,000 Crystals$4.99
  • Bundle Level Pack$9.99
1 purchases

TANGENT

One-time1
  • TANGENT Full Game$4.99

Questions

Is Polar Cipher free?
Polar Cipher is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is TANGENT free?
TANGENT is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Polar Cipher or TANGENT?
Polar Cipher and TANGENT are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Polar Cipher or TANGENT have ads?
Both Polar Cipher and TANGENT show ads.
Which is updated more often, Polar Cipher or TANGENT?
Polar Cipher ships an update weekly, and TANGENT every 3 weeks. Most recently, Polar Cipher was updated on October 31, 2026 and TANGENT on October 29, 2026.

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