Open Lobster vs Skiplash
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Open Lobster
Read full descriptionHide full description
A tiny lobster is chained to the seafloor. Your job: feed it. Open Lobster is a pixel-art arcade reflex game built around one simple mechanic - things fall from above, and you swipe to handle each one correctly before it hits the ground. SWIPE DOWN - eat the food SWIPE RIGHT - net the garbage SWIPE LEFT - deflect the bomb Miss the right swipe, and you pay. Eat enough food and the lobster breaks free. Move too slow, and chaos follows. TWO MODES ESCAPE MODE Eat 30 pieces of food to shatter the chain. The lobster grows with every meal - watch it balloon to fill the screen as you close in on freedom. The faster you finish, the better your personal best. SURVIVAL MODE No finish line. No escape. Just eat as much as you can before a bomb ends it all. Objects fall faster and spawn more often as your score climbs. How far can you go?
Skiplash
Read full descriptionHide full description
One tap. Perfect timing. A stone across still water. Skiplash is a minimalist skipping-stone game about rhythm, restraint, and waiting for your moment. Each tap sends your stone arcing toward the surface. Time it right and it skims. Time it perfectly and it flies. HOW TO PLAY Tap just as the stone grazes the water. Too early, it drops. Too late, it sinks. Land the sweet spot for a perfect skip ā and a streak of perfects builds a multiplier worth up to 5Ć. The further you fly, the rougher the sea becomes. A WORLD THAT TURNS The sky moves through a full day as you play ā noon glare, golden hour, dusk, starlight, dawn ā and the water, your stone, and every word on screen carry the hour's light. Shooting stars cross the night, and the moon rises in its true phase, waxing and waning through the month as the real one does. Gulls glide by from sunrise to sunset. Schools of fish drift below, and if you watch the deep, a turtle or a shark may cruise past. Time itself persists: it carries between runs, keeps turning while you sit on the menu, and is waiting where you left it tomorrow. Or let the sea keep your hours instead ā one setting anchors the whole cycle to your own clock, so opening Skiplash at dusk finds the water at dusk. THE SOUND OF THE WATER Skiplash has no soundtrack. It has a sea ā a soft bed of lapping that thickens into wind-blown chop as the waves build, and quiets after dark. Every sound here, the water included, is generated as you play rather than recorded, so calm water and a storm genuinely sound different, not just louder. It steps aside if you're already listening to something, and anything you'd rather not hear can be switched off. WHEN THE DEEP TAKES YOUR STONE A sunk run can be rescued. A little lifebuoy floats your stone back up, a slingshot rises from the ring, waits for a level moment on the swell, and flings you back in ā score, skips, and speed intact. Saves come five for $0.99, sync across your devices through iCloud, and work up to three times per run. Entirely optional, never pushed. FEATURES ⢠One-tap control, scales with your precision ⢠Streak multiplier system ā 2Ć, 3Ć, 4Ć, and 5à ⢠Up to 25 points on a single flawless skip ⢠Super-skip every 20 skips ā a soaring launch with a perfect-landing bonus ⢠A full day-night cycle that persists between sessions ā or follows your own clock ⢠A moon in tonight's true phase ⢠An ambient sea that rises and falls with the waves and the hour ⢠A living scene: gulls, fish schools, sea turtles, sharks, shooting stars ⢠Game Center leaderboards ā score, distance, and skips ⢠Pause with a countdown resume and a moment of shield after ⢠Auto-pauses for calls and interruptions ⢠Settings for sound effects, the ambient sea, haptics, and the real-time sky ⢠120 Hz ProMotion on capable iPhones and iPads ⢠Haptics tuned to each skip quality ⢠Automatic light, dark, and tinted icon variants ⢠Remembers your best score, best distance, and most skips ⢠Full iPhone and iPad support CALM, BY DESIGN No ads. No tracking. No sign-ups. Works offline. Easy on battery. Every sound and vibration can be switched off. One optional purchase ā saves ā and nothing else for sale. Cast. Skip. Settle.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Open Lobster at none against Skiplash's 1. Open Lobster also leads on update cadence (daily vs weekly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Skiplash sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Open Lobster asks for nothing beyond the download.
Open Lobster ships an update daily, Skiplash weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Open Lobster | Skiplash |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Daily ā better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No ā better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 16.0 ā better |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ZHENYUE ZHAO | Paul DiSalvo |
In-app purchases
Open Lobster
No in-app purchases
Skiplash
- Five Saves$0.99









