Orbital Pong vs Sub Standard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Orbital Pong
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Orbital Pong reinvents the classic Pong with a circular playing field and an arcade look inspired by green-phosphor CRT monitors. Play it on Apple Watch with the Digital Crown, or on iPhone on a vintage oscilloscope. ON IPHONE: A POCKET OSCILLOSCOPE The whole screen becomes an instrument panel: brushed metal, screws, push keys with backlit legends that light up only when you can use them, LEDs, seven-segment score counters and a dot-matrix mode display. The round CRT tube shows both the menu and the match: it powers on with a beam line, rewrites the screen with a sweeping beam and fades with phosphor afterglow. Steer your paddle around the ring with a knurled thumbwheel: swipe up or down. RUN/STOP pauses the match. Rotate your paddle along the orbit, hit the ball with perfect timing, and try to outplay an AI opponent designed to read trajectories, anticipate impacts, and react under match pressure. Every match is fast, technical, and immediate: the first to 10 points wins, with special rules like the double-hit fault. The visual experience is built like a true retro-futuristic display: P31 phosphor palette, horizontal scanlines, shadow-mask, hum bar, global flicker, CRT tube vignette, bloom, phosphor glow, light trails, paddle ghost trails, chromatic aberration on the ball, radar grid, concentric rings, radial spokes, luminous score arcs, and CRT power-on animation with central line, screen expansion, phosphor flash, random phosphor pixels, and fine grain. The glitch system adds dynamic, analog-style artifacts: scan tears, band displacement, phosphor flash, black dropout bars, vertical streaks, composite noise, rolling band, and heavy cascade, with micro-shake and intensity variations to make each match feel more alive. The AI offers two difficulty profiles, Easy and Hard, and uses impact prediction, dynamic replanning, defensive and offensive modes, deliberate attack shots, aim correction, intentional deflections, error management, controlled blunders, perception drift, urgency boost when the ball is close, double-hit avoidance, and smart rerouting when the player’s paddle blocks the path. Key features: * Orbital gameplay on Apple Watch and iPhone * Digital Crown control on Apple Watch, thumbwheel on iPhone * Oscilloscope-style iPhone panel with backlit keys * AI opponent with Easy and Hard modes * Elastic physics with swing kick, normal push, light drag, and speed limit * Full, animated CRT effects * Menu music with fade-in/fade-out * Haptic feedback on hits and scoring * Quick matches, first to 10 points * Double-hit fault rule * Pause, resume, and automatic background management Orbital Pong is a minimal, precise, and atmospheric arcade: easy to start, hard to master, built for quick matches on your wrist or in your pocket.
Sub Standard
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Take command of a little submarine and navigate a colourful underwater world built specifically for Apple Watch. Steer through twisting caverns, squeeze through narrow passages and deal with an increasingly troublesome collection of sea creatures and obstacles. Some hazards block your route, some knock you around, and others force you to rethink your path. Use the Digital Crown to control your submarine and carefully navigate each handcrafted level from start to finish. Features: • Underwater adventure designed for Apple Watch • Simple Digital Crown controls • Handcrafted levels with increasingly challenging routes • Pufferfish that pursue and obstruct you • Crabs that can knock your submarine backwards • Dangerous anglerfish • Moving hazards and environmental obstacles • Colourful underwater environments • Quick levels designed for play on your wrist • Haptic and visual feedback Find the route, avoid the wildlife and get your little submarine safely through the deep.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Orbital Pong at $0.99 against Sub Standard's $1.99. Orbital Pong also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 27.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Orbital Pong costs $0.99 and Sub Standard $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Orbital Pong | Sub Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $1.99 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 27.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | EDUARD FARTADE | Daniel Beer |
In-app purchases
Orbital Pong
No in-app purchases
Sub Standard
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Orbital Pong free?
Is Sub Standard free?
Do Orbital Pong or Sub Standard have ads?
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