Comparison

Gem Digger vs Pocket Arcade

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

Head to head
About

Gem Digger

Features
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Dig into a collapsing cave, grab your gem quota, and reach the exit before the clock runs out. One wrong dig and a boulder lands on your head. Gem Digger is a boulder-physics puzzle game in the classic cave-arcade tradition. The first world and unlimited Endless runs are free; three more worlds are one-time unlocks. Rocks and gems fall and roll by rules you can learn, so a cave is something you solve, not something you grind. FREE, WITH NO TIMERS โ€ข Dirt Mines: 60 handcrafted caves โ€ข Endless mode: unlimited generated caves, free forever, each one checked against a solver before it is served โ€ข No energy meters and no lives to wait out, in the free worlds and the paid ones alike MECHANICS TO MASTER โ€ข Drop a boulder on a butterfly and it bursts into the gems you need โ€ข Wall the amoeba in and it turns to gems; let it sprawl and it turns to rock โ€ข Magic walls turn falling boulders into gems, but not for long โ€ข Outsmart fireflies, and learn slime and the falling-rock rules โ€ข Chase three stars on every cave; the third one needs a clear under par THREE MORE WORLDS Crystal Caves, Magma Depths and Frozen Hollow add 45 caves each. Each is a one-time in-app purchase, or take all three at once. No subscription, no consumables, nothing expires, and a single purchase restores across your devices. Built for touch: swipe anywhere or use the on-screen pad. Landscape, and it plays offline. Gem Digger shows ads between runs. A one-time Remove Ads purchase turns them off.

About

Pocket Arcade

Experience a collection of 26 original retro arcade games on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Enjoy diverse genres from racing and shooters to puzzles and pinball, with intuitive controls and offline play. Unlock all games with a single purchase.

Highlights
  • 26 original arcade games
  • Playable on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch
  • Controller support for iPhone/iPad
  • Offline play
  • Game Center leaderboards and achievements
  • Single purchase to unlock all games
Features
Read full description

Pocket Arcade packs 26 original arcade games into one beautifully crafted app โ€” for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. No ads, no nonsense: pick a game and play in seconds. From a neon maze chase and a brick-breaker to a pseudo-3D arcade racer, a tube shooter, a snake game, a physics pinball with four tables, falling-block, sliding-number and match-3 puzzles, an asteroids-style drifter, a boss-battling sky shooter, table tennis and more โ€” every game is hand-built with its own controls, music, and high-score table. FEATURES โ€ข 26 original games across Arcade, Pinball, Shooters, Puzzle, Racing and Board โ€ข Big, clear on-screen touch controls tuned per game โ€” plus Apple Watch Digital Crown support โ€ข Play with a game controller on iPhone and iPad โ€” Xbox, PlayStation and MFi pads, 23 of the 26 games โ€ข Plays on iPhone, iPad AND Apple Watch โ€” your high scores sync across all three over iCloud โ€ข Game Center leaderboards and achievements โ€ข Filter games by category and star your favorites โ€ข High scores, attract demos, and a clear how-to-play guide for every game โ€ข The maze chaser evolves as you climb โ€” split mazes and rotating biomes over a deep-space sky โ€ข Original artwork and sound โ€” no third-party trackers, fully playable offline FREE TO PLAY Four games are free forever โ€” a maze chaser, tic-tac-toe, a brick-breaker, and a snake game. Unlock the full collection โ€” every current and future game โ€” with a single one-time purchase. No subscriptions, ever. THE GAMES Arcade โ€” a neon maze chase, a road-and-river crossing dash, a snake, a flag-grabbing maze rally, table tennis, and a maze-bombing blast-'em-up. Pinball โ€” a real-physics table with flippers, ramps and multiball across four distinct playfields. Shooters โ€” defend against a swarm, dodge a diving fleet, drift-and-blast through a rock field, ride a geometric tube, loop a dream world blasting bosses, and storm an isometric gauntlet of floor mazes and six towering bosses. Puzzle โ€” stack falling blocks, pop color-matched bubbles, break out a wall of bricks, chain match-3 gem cascades, catch and clear tumbling tiles, and merge tiles to 2048. Racing โ€” race an endless circuit, choose your route to the coast, carve an endless downhill, and run a fugitive off the road in a siren-blaring pursuit. Board โ€” tic-tac-toe, connect-four, and a full game of solitaire, vs the device or a friend. Designed for quick play on the go: grab your iPhone or iPad, or glance at your Apple Watch, and dive into a game in seconds.

Screenshots

Gem Digger4 screens
Pocket Arcade4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Pocket Arcade at none against Gem Digger's shown. Pocket Arcade also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 months). Gem Digger's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Gem Digger sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Pocket Arcade sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Gem Digger ships an update every 3 months, Pocket Arcade every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 5 level
Gem Digger versus Pocket Arcade: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGem DiggerPocket Arcade
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsโ€”100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetizationโ€”Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better17.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size52 MB185 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSeif IbrahimPascal Peltriaux

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Gem Digger

One-time6
  • Crystal Caves$2.99
  • Magma Depths$2.99
  • Frozen Hollow$2.99
Show 3 more
  • Remove Ads$3.99
  • Unlock All Worlds$6.99
  • Complete Edition$9.99
1 purchases

Pocket Arcade

One-time1
  • Unlock All Games$3.99

Questions

Is Gem Digger free?
Gem Digger is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pocket Arcade free?
Pocket Arcade is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Gem Digger or Pocket Arcade have ads?
Gem Digger shows ads; Pocket Arcade does not.
Which is updated more often, Gem Digger or Pocket Arcade?
Gem Digger ships an update every 3 months, and Pocket Arcade every 4 days. Most recently, Gem Digger was updated on September 24, 2026 and Pocket Arcade on October 2, 2026.

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