PixelPal vs Bova Buddy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PixelPal
Raise a virtual pet from an egg, caring for its needs like hunger and sleep. Decorate its room and collect different Pal forms. Play mini-games to earn coins for customization and new species.
- Virtual pet care (feeding, cleaning, sleep)
- Home screen widget for quick interaction
- Mini-games for earning coins
- Room decoration and customization
- Collect 25 different Pal forms
- Multiple collectible Pal species
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A little buddy is waiting for you. PixelPal is a virtual pet game where you raise a Pal, an original little creature all your own. The egg hatches in 5 minutes, and from then on it's all up to you. As time goes by, your Pal gets hungry, poops, and falls asleep when night comes. ■ 6 ways to care • Meal / Treat – fill up Tummy and Mood • Play – earn coins in 3 mini games (Which Way? / Treat Catch / Remember & Tap) • Clean – leave poop lying around and your Pal gets sick • Medicine – two doses and it's all better • Lights – turn them off at bedtime • Scold – if it calls you for no reason, teach it some manners ■ Sweet dreams At 9 PM your Pal closes its eyes and drifts off to sleep. Turn off the lights and the whole room goes dark for a cozy night. Leave them on, and it gets a little grumpy. ■ Neglect it, and it runs away If Tummy or Mood stays at 0 for 12 hours, your Pal leaves a goodbye letter and is gone. You'll get a notification when it's about to run away (at night, everything except run-away alerts waits until morning). ■ Care from your Home Screen Tap the buttons on the widget to feed and clean without opening the app. ■ Decorate the room Pick a room, then decorate the ceiling, the wall, the floor on both sides and the rug. Put a hat on your Pal, or let it hold a balloon or a teddy bear. With coins from the mini games you can collect 4 rooms, 16 pieces of furniture, 8 hats and 6 held items. Your decorated room also becomes the background of your Home Screen widget. ■ Collect all 25 forms Depending on how you care for it and teach it manners, your Pal grows into one of 5 adult forms. Once it's all grown up, it's on to the next egg. Raise generation after generation and fill up your Collection. ■ Sweet friends (egg packs, one-time purchase) Pudding Pal / Dango Pal / Macaron Pal / Cotton Candy Pal. Each species grows up its own way and has its own adult forms. Every pack comes with that Pal's room set (Pudding Café, Dango Teahouse, Patisserie Room, Cloud Carnival: 1 room, 5 pieces of furniture, 2 hats, 1 held item). • Egg packs and the Complete Pack are one-time purchases – no subscription, no auto-renewal • With the free Mint Pal alone, you can play from egg to adult for as long as you like • Already bought PixelPal Pro or the Item Pack in an earlier version? All eggs are unlocked for you • Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ • Privacy Policy: https://sano131.github.io/pixelpal-privacy/ Works with VoiceOver: it reads out how your Pal is doing and the results of your care. Play in 9 languages: English, Japanese, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional). Everything is saved on your device.
Bova Buddy
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It has opinions. Bova Buddy is a virtual pet game where your pet is a rock. Swipe to pet it, earn its trust, unlock its moods and sarcastic remarks — and watch a stone slowly learn to like you. No ads, no accounts, plays offline. KEY FEATURES - Pet the Rock: Swipe to pet it. Longer strokes build more trust. Tap it or shake your phone and it reacts — but don't overdo it, or it gets offended for a moment. - 4 Relationship Levels: Go from Suspicious Mineral to Familiar Boulder, Stone Companion and finally Kindred Rock. Every level changes its face, mood and what it says to you. - Cracks & Life Cycle: Each level leaves a crack. At 100% the rock splits, your "rocks broken" counter goes up, and a new rock arrives to start over. - Rare Events: A 5% chance after every pet — critical pet, sneeze, identity crisis, a 3-second nap or a perfect swipe, with banners, sparks and haptics. - Coins & 19 Skins: Every pet earns a coin; level-ups and broken rocks earn more. Spend them on pirate, astronaut, knight, samurai, punk, Midas and more. Each skin changes both the rock and the world around it. - Stats Screen: Trust, level, mood, total pets, rocks broken, days together, daily average, coins earned and spent, unlocked skins and milestones. - Daily Visits: Check in every day for +1 trust and a growing "days together" streak. - Reminders: An evening nudge at 7 p.m. with a line from your rock, and a gentle reminder if you've been away for 3 days. HOW IT WORKS 1. Meet your rock. 2. Swipe to pet it and earn trust. 3. Unlock moods, phrases and skins. 4. Reach 100%, say goodbye, adopt the next one. MADE FOR SHORT BREAKS System, Light and Dark themes. Sound and haptics you can turn off. Reset the relationship anytime — the rock will remember that.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bova Buddy at none against PixelPal's 7. Bova Buddy also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. PixelPal sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Bova Buddy asks for nothing beyond the download.
PixelPal ships an update every 2 months, Bova Buddy every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PixelPal | Bova Buddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 68 MB | 93 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SANWA Inc. | NOAH EVANS |
In-app purchases
PixelPal
- プレミアム$1.991 Month
- プレミアム着せ替え解放$0.99
- Dango Pal Egg$1.99
- Cotton Candy Pal Egg$1.99
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- Pudding Pal Egg$1.99
- Macaron Pal Egg$1.99
- Complete Egg Pack$5.99
Bova Buddy
No in-app purchases









