Comparison

Taploom vs Star Groups

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

Star Groups

A minimalist logic puzzle game where you connect scattered stars into constellations using row and column clues. It offers simple rules with deep logic, designed for quick play sessions with increasing difficulty.

Highlights
  • Connect scattered stars
  • Solve constellation puzzles
  • Use row and column clues
  • Minimalist visual design
  • Short, pick-up-and-play puzzles
  • Increasingly challenging levels
Features
Read full description

Connect the stars. Discover the constellation. Star Groups is a minimalist logic puzzle about connecting scattered stars into constellations. Each puzzle gives you a board filled with stars and simple clues along the edges. Your goal is to figure out which stars belong together and connect them to form the correct constellations. But every connection matters. A choice in one part of the board can change what is possible somewhere else. Use the clues, eliminate possibilities, and gradually uncover the hidden pattern. FEATURES • Simple rules, deep logic • Connect scattered stars into constellations • Use row and column clues to solve each puzzle • No guessing required • Minimalist visual design • Short puzzles that are easy to pick up • Increasingly challenging puzzles for longer play Take a moment, look at the stars, and find the pattern. Can you connect them all?

Screenshots

Taploom4 screens
Star Groups3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Taploom at none against Star Groups's shown. Taploom also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). Star Groups's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, ratings volume and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

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 Star Groups. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Taploom ships an update every 3 weeks, Star Groups daily. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Taploom versus Star Groups: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTaploomStar Groups
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings33
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksDaily — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCylandea Systems LLCTypress

Customer experience

Taploom

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Star Groups

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Taploom

No in-app purchases

None

Star Groups

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Taploom free?
Taploom is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Star Groups free?
Star Groups is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Taploom or Star Groups?
Taploom and Star Groups are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 3 ratings respectively.
Do Taploom or Star Groups have ads?
Star Groups shows ads; Taploom does not.
Which is updated more often, Taploom or Star Groups?
Taploom ships an update every 3 weeks, and Star Groups daily. Most recently, Taploom was updated on October 16, 2026 and Star Groups on October 7, 2026.

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