Comparison

Beacons vs Sort & Settle

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

Head to head
About

Beacons

Features
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Beacons is a calm, beautiful logic puzzle about lighting up the coast. Each board hides one simple rule: place a single beacon in every row, every column, and every colored stretch of coastline — but no two beacons may stand next to each other, not even diagonally, or their beams would cross. There's no luck and no guessing. Every puzzle has exactly one solution, and every solution can be reached by pure deduction — so a win always feels earned. Start with the smallest coves, watch each beacon rule out the cells around it, and feel the whole board click into place. 400 HAND-VERIFIED LEVELS Work through 400 puzzles across four difficulties — Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert, 100 each — that ramp up smoothly as your skills grow. Every single board is checked by a solver to guarantee a unique, logic-only solution before it ships. Clear a level to unlock the next, then come back to beat your best time. PLAY YOUR WAY • A clean, glowing dusk-harbor look that's easy on the eyes. • Tap to light a beacon, tap again to mark a rock, once more to clear. • Optional auto-mark to rule out cells for you. • Undo any move, or take a hint when you're stuck. • A built-in timer and your best time saved for every level. • Clashing beacons light up red, so mistakes are obvious and easy to fix. NO NONSENSE — JUST PUZZLES • 100% offline. No internet connection required — play on a plane, on the subway, anywhere. • No ads. Ever. • No in-app purchases. Everything is included. • No account, no sign-up, no login. • No tracking and no data collection — your progress stays on your device. Just you, the coastline, and a quiet puzzle to solve. Light every beacon and secure the coast.

About

Sort & Settle

Features
Read full description

Sort & Settle is a colour-sorting puzzle with room to think. One purchase. Every level included. No in-app purchases, subscriptions, timers, lives, streaks or ads. Tap a tube to lift its matching top blocks, then tap another to pour. Fill every tube with one colour to finish the level. PLAY AT YOUR OWN PACE Undo and hints are unlimited and included. If the game confirms a dead end, it offers to step you back. Extra Spare Tube gives you more room whenever you want it. MAKE IT COMFORTABLE Choose Calm, Contrast or Playful. Distinct shapes help identify colours, with automatic shapes on busier boards. Larger Text, Bold Text, Reduce Motion and Differentiate Without Colour are supported. Tube labels and hint announcements help with VoiceOver. Gentle sound effects mix with your music, with optional spatial cues and adjustable volume. YOUR PROGRESS, YOUR CHOICE Local gameplay works offline without an account. Optional iCloud sync carries saved progress between your devices. Optional Game Center in Settings lets you compare completed-level scores with Game Center friends; connecting shares your score with Apple. Play on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Vision Pro. The board gradually grows, then keeps offering more puzzles.

Screenshots

Beacons3 screens
Sort & Settle3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Beacons at Free against Sort & Settle's $3.99. Beacons also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Sort & Settle's advantage is device support (5 vs 3). On update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Beacons is free to download; Sort & Settle costs $3.99 up front. Sort & Settle sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Beacons asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Ā· 2 level
Beacons versus Sort & Settle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeaconsSort & Settle
PriceFree — better$3.99
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBeyondem Inc.Daniel Maldonado

In-app purchases

None

Beacons

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Sort & Settle

One-time1
  • Full Version$3.99

Questions

Is Beacons free?
Beacons is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sort & Settle free?
Sort & Settle costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Do Beacons or Sort & Settle have ads?
Neither Beacons nor Sort & Settle shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Beacons or Sort & Settle?
Beacons ships an update every 2 months, and Sort & Settle every 2 months. Most recently, Beacons was updated on October 8, 2026 and Sort & Settle on October 25, 2026.

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