Comparison

Orbly vs Squared2

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

Head to head
About

Orbly

Draw perfect circles daily with a single stroke. Compete globally or with friends, and explore unique drawing challenges that twist the gameplay. Practice offline or build your streak for rewards.

Highlights
  • Daily circle drawing challenges
  • Unique daily twists on gameplay
  • Global and friend leaderboards
  • Streak building and protection
  • Offline practice mode
  • Multiple drawing themes
Features
Read full description

Orbly is the world's most satisfying five-second game. Every day, a new circle challenge — the same one for every player on Earth. One attempt. One continuous stroke. Lift your finger and see your score, 0 to 100, graded against the displayed target. NEW IN 1.3 — SATURDAY FLAGSHIP Saturdays now pick from six new perceptual twists — each one rewrites how the canvas works: • Jitters — the phone shakes in waves while you draw. Hold steady through the bursts. • Eclipse — the guide fades the moment you touch down. Commit fast and finish from memory. • Mirage — three identical guides appear. Pick one and trace it. Two are decoys. • Echo — your line lags behind your finger by a variable delay. Draw the future. • Tilt — keep the phone flat. Every degree of tilt costs you. • Mirror — your finger is flipped. Aim for the blue guide; your stroke lands on the gold one. DAILY TWISTS Monday through Friday keep the v1.2 rhythm — calibration, sizing, direction, tempo, Goldilocks — so you always know roughly what kind of day to expect, but never the exact mechanic until you open the app. Sunday gets a harder twist. Same circle for every player on Earth, every day. LEADERBOARDS • Daily, Weekly, and All-Time boards via Apple's Game Center. • Compete globally, or filter to your Game Center friends for a quieter race. • Honest scoring — Kasa algebraic fit refined by Levenberg-Marquardt geometric optimisation. No vibes. BUILD YOUR STREAK • Come back every day to grow your streak. • Pro members unlock Streak Protection — a safety net for the days life gets in the way. • Streak warnings before the daily reset if you haven't drawn yet. PRACTICE MODE • Unlimited free drawing. No pressure, no score submitted. • Freeform scoring — no twists, no penalties. The safe space to learn the gesture. • Works entirely offline. FRIENDS TODAY • See which Game Center friends played today right on the home tab. • Tap a non-Orbly friend to invite them; tap a player to compare. ORBLY PRO One-time purchase, no subscription. Includes: • Remove Ads — the game is ad-supported by default; this makes them go away forever. • Circle Archive — every circle you've ever drawn, synced across your Apple devices via iCloud. • Streak Protection — a freeze for days you can't play. • Three premium themes — Neon Nights, Ink Brush, Gold. • Family Sharing included. Individual IAPs also available if you just want a single theme or just want ads gone. PRIVACY FIRST • No accounts. No login. Game Center and iCloud are entirely Apple-controlled. • No analytics, no crash-reporting SDKs, no servers we run. • Free tier serves AdMob interstitial ads with identifier-based targeting only if you grant App Tracking Transparency permission. • Pro removes the ad SDK entirely — no tracking, no identifiers, no data collection. • Full privacy policy: playorbly.com/privacy Perfect circles are harder than they look. Build the streak. Outdraw your friends. Beat the twist. playorbly.com

About

Squared2

Features
Read full description

No Ads, No Subscriptions, No Tracking. Draw the fourth side. Claim the box. Take another turn. In Squared2, one well-timed move can open a whole chain and turn a close game around. The pencil-and-paper classic Dots and Boxes is back for quick matches and friendly rivalries. Play with two, three, or four people, or challenge the computer. This is a game I remember playing in school with my friends, and I am so pleased to bring it to a new, modern digital format. This game goes by a few other names too, depending on where you grew up: Boxes, Squares, Paddocks, or Pigs in a Pen. MORE WAYS TO PLAY TOGETHER - Pass & Play: gather around one screen and take turns. - Live online: challenge friends and trade moves in real time. - Turn-based online: take your turn when it suits you, without needing everyone online together. - Nearby: connect on separate devices and play people in the room. Each seats two, three, or four players. Online matches use Game Center. Local and nearby play do not require a Game Center account. Online features are subject to account restrictions. THE PAPER CLASSIC, MADE FOR YOUR SCREEN Clean dot grids, colorful claims, and an ink-on-paper design in light and dark keep the board easy to follow. Play on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac, with support for 50 languages. One purchase covers all four: play with the Siri Remote on the TV, or with menus and the keyboard on the Mac. OPTIMIZED FOR IPHONE DUO Open the phone and the board fills the inner display; close it and your game carries on, on the outer display, right where you were. SIMPLE RULES. SATISFYING TACTICS. Join two dots with a line. Complete a box and it belongs to you, marked with your initial or player number. You also get another turn. Finish with the most boxes to win. The challenge is knowing which line to leave. Give away the wrong opening and your opponent may collect a chain of boxes before you play again. Look ahead, time your moves, and make the next turn count. How to Play and the Video Instructions teach the chain strategy. PICK YOUR PACE Choose eight board presets, from 3×3 dots to a sprawling 12×12 grid. Start small for a quick round or settle into a larger contest. The Swedish opening begins with the border already drawn, changing the choices from the first move. Four computer strengths, Easy through Expert, give you room to learn and a reason to improve. Ask for a hint when you want a nudge, undo during local play to try another approach, and revisit a finished game with Watch Replay. KEEP YOUR PLACE. BUILD YOUR RECORD. Local games save as you play, with room for up to six unfinished games, and iCloud carries them to your other devices. Return when you're ready for the next round. Earn XP in qualifying games, climb the levels, and pursue 28 achievements and six Game Center leaderboards. Track your wins, boxes, chains, and progress. Pass & Play is for the rivalry, not XP. One purchase. No subscriptions or in-app purchases. No third-party ads or tracking. We may show you our other games. Pick a board. Bring your friends. Leave them one less box.

Screenshots

Orbly4 screens
Squared24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Orbly at Free against Squared2's $1.99. Squared2's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and ads (none vs shown). On update cadence 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

Orbly is free to download; Squared2 costs $1.99 up front. Orbly sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Squared2 asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
Orbly versus Squared2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOrblySquared2
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB12 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperEmbay, LLCHOLLENDER CONSULTING LLC

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Orbly

One-time5
  • Theme: Neon Nights$1.99
  • Theme: Ink Brush$1.99
  • Theme: Gold$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Remove Ads$3.99
  • Orbly Everything Bundle$6.99
None

Squared2

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Orbly free?
Orbly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Squared2 free?
Squared2 costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Orbly or Squared2 have ads?
Orbly shows ads; Squared2 does not.
Which is updated more often, Orbly or Squared2?
Orbly ships an update weekly, and Squared2 weekly. Most recently, Orbly was updated on November 5, 2026 and Squared2 on November 6, 2026.

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