Comparison

Taploom vs AreaNest

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

Head to head
About

Taploom

A minimalist puzzle game where you tap tiles to create color ripples that drain the board. Plan your moves to chain reactions and solve each level efficiently. Features hand-crafted levels, a daily puzzle, and an endless mode.

Highlights
  • Minimalist ripple puzzle gameplay
  • 55 hand-crafted levels
  • Daily and endless puzzle modes
  • Built-in level editor
  • Three-star scoring system
  • One-handed play
Features
Read full description

Tap a tile. Watch the color ripple outward. Drain every tile on the board. ColorDrain is a minimalist puzzle game built around one simple idea: every tap sends a wave through the grid. Plan your taps, chain the reactions, and clear each board in as few moves as possible. HOW IT PLAYS You have a board of empty tiles. Each tap fills the tapped tile and ripples outward through its neighbors. Tiles, walls, mirrors, and other obstacles shape where the color can go. Your goal is to fill the entire board, and your score depends on how cleanly you do it. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT Most puzzle games ask you to match. ColorDrain asks you to plan. The same board can be solved in five taps or twenty, and finding the elegant solution feels like solving a tiny machine. FEATURES • 55 hand-crafted levels across 11 themed rows • A fresh daily puzzle, the same seed for every player worldwide • Endless mode with seeded levels you can replay • A built-in level editor for designing and saving your own puzzles • Three-star scoring rewards efficient solutions • Built one-handed for iPhone, fully portrait, no ads, no IAP A GROWING TOOLBOX Each row of levels introduces a new tile that changes how the ripple flows: • Amplifiers boost a tap into a long beam • Mirrors bend rays around corners • Bombs detonate when filled, taking neighbors with them • Teleporters warp the ripple to their partners on the same heading • Frozen barriers thaw under bomb blasts • Canals carry rays across long distances • Prisms burst light in all four directions • Locked tiles open only when surrounded • Infection tiles spread on their own once seeded • Heart tiles are the final puzzle: protect them, route around them, or finish them last BUILT FOR THE DEVICE Every action has a haptic. Every fill has a sound. Tap placement is precise enough to play with one thumb on the bus, and slow enough to think through on the couch. No accounts. No tracking. No internet required.

About

AreaNest

A logic puzzle game where you divide a board into rectangles based on numbered areas. New mechanics are introduced as you progress, requiring strategic thinking to solve increasingly complex challenges.

Highlights
  • Rectangle division logic puzzles
  • Progressive introduction of new gimmicks
  • Hint system for assistance
  • Multiple worlds and stages
  • Simple, learnable rules
Read full description

Divide the board into rectangles so that each number matches the area of its region. The basic rules are simple to learn. But in AreaNest, that’s only the beginning. As you progress, new gimmicks appear—Pivots, mystery “?” cells with hidden numbers, special cells that change how areas are counted, and more. A strategy that worked on the last stage may not work on the next. Observe the board. Think it through. Find the breakthrough. AreaNest is a logic puzzle where every stage adds a new twist to the rules you thought you knew. 【Features of AreaNest】 ・Simple rules that are easy to learn and quick to play ・A growing variety of gimmicks as you progress ・From approachable puzzles to challenging stages that demand careful thought ・Hints to help you when you get stuck ・Plenty of stages spread across a variety of worlds “It can only go here.” That satisfying moment when everything suddenly clicks. Simple rules, combined with gimmicks that twist your expectations. Take on a new kind of area logic puzzle with AreaNest.

Screenshots

Taploom4 screens
AreaNest4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Taploom at none against AreaNest's 8. Taploom also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). AreaNest's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, device support 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

Both are free to download. AreaNest sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Taploom asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Taploom against 5.0 for AreaNest. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Taploom ships an update every 3 weeks, AreaNest daily. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 4 level
Taploom versus AreaNest: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTaploomAreaNest
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksDaily — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB121 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCylandea Systems LLCDaisuke Minobe

In-app purchases

None

Taploom

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

AreaNest

One-time8
  • World NAGOYA$1.99
  • World TOKYO$1.99
  • World OSAKA$1.99
Show 5 more
  • World OKINAWA$1.99
  • World MERCURY$2.99
  • World VENUS$2.99
  • World EARTH$2.99
  • Remove Ads$3.99

Questions

Is Taploom free?
Taploom is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AreaNest free?
AreaNest is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Taploom or AreaNest?
Taploom and AreaNest are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Taploom or AreaNest have ads?
AreaNest shows ads; Taploom does not.
Which is updated more often, Taploom or AreaNest?
Taploom ships an update every 3 weeks, and AreaNest daily. Most recently, Taploom was updated on October 16, 2026 and AreaNest on October 25, 2026.

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