Comparison

Wisp Arcade vs ArcadeOS

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

Head to head
About

Wisp Arcade

Discover and play a vast, growing collection of creator-made games across numerous genres, all within a single app. Jump between arcade challenges, platformers, adventures, and multiplayer experiences without individual downloads. Find your next favorite game easily with curated and trending selections.

Highlights
  • Growing library of creator-made games
  • Play games across multiple genres
  • Discover featured, popular, and new games
  • Jump between games without downloading
  • Compete on leaderboards
  • Explore diverse gameplay styles
Features
Read full description

A whole arcade of games, ready to play. No downloads, no waiting. Wisp Arcade brings together games made by creators from around the world. Quick arcade challenges, platformers, adventures, simulators, multiplayer games, and more. Whether you have a few minutes to spare or want to find your next favorite game, Wisp Arcade makes it easy to discover something fun and start playing. A WHOLE ARCADE IN YOUR POCKET - Explore a growing library of creator-made games - Play across a wide variety of genres and styles - Discover featured, popular, and newly released games - Jump between games without downloading each one separately - Compete for high scores and climb supported leaderboards - Come back to see what creators have built next ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW No two games are exactly alike. New creations are added all the time, so there's always another world, challenge, or surprising idea waiting to be discovered. PLAY WHATEVER SOUNDS FUN Fast arcade game? Platforming challenge? Strategy game? Multiplayer showdown? Browse the collection and pick whatever fits your mood. With this much variety in one place, there's always something to play. BUILT FOR DISCOVERY Explore handpicked featured games, see what's currently popular, or browse the newest releases from the community. Finding your next game takes just a few taps. POWERED BY CREATORS Every game in Wisp Arcade is made with CodeWisp, a platform that turns ideas into playable games. Wisp Arcade is where those creations come together for everyone to discover and enjoy. Download Wisp Arcade and find your next favorite game!

About

ArcadeOS

Experience a full arcade with 65 original retro-style games on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. Enjoy diverse genres from racing to RPGs, all playable offline with instant resume and authentic chip audio. New games are added seasonally.

Highlights
  • 65 original retro-style games
  • Playable on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch
  • Offline play with no internet required
  • Instant resume for all games
  • Authentic chip audio
  • New games added seasonally
  • No accounts, ads, or tracking
Features
Read full description

Welcome to ArcadeOS — a whole arcade in your pocket, and now on your wrist. 68 hand-picked original games, each one its own cartridge: full 3D open worlds, kart racers, ninja action, gothic pinball, paper-craft RPGs, sky shooters, momentum platformers, run-and-gun, belt brawlers, puzzle boxes and rhythm. Every game is an original creation in the spirit of the golden age of consoles — drawn in code, scored with real chip audio, and built to be picked up in seconds. HALLOW EDITION Worlds, not cartridges. LOOSE KEYS: HALLOW HOLLOW is a full 3D open city under an orange moon: take any car, hearse, helicopter, plane or boat, outrun a three-star heat system, fly a fast jet off a military airfield, land an airliner at the international airport, and work a phone full of jobs — in a city full of witches, skeletons, horsemen and the odd creature from an 1818 novel. At its heart is HOLLOWMERE, a haunted theme park with a graveyard coaster you can actually ride, a drop tower, and a lagoon parade with fireworks on the hour. MODS ship with it: god mode, every weapon, flight, moon gravity. IRONBARK is a heavyweight momentum platformer: an armored-bark brawler and a glider partner tag-teaming through an industrial jungle of barrel-cannon chains, mine-cart runs and hidden bonus rooms, drawn in fine-pixel art. GLIMMERGLASS KEEP rounds it out — a free-roam 3D collect-a-thon built over 25 nights of iteration. All three have original soundtracks synthesized live inside the app. CHERRY EDITION 23 games rated five stars by our testers before they shipped — look for the cherry on the cartridge. Highlights: Reefjack's lantern-tide run-and-gun, Thornhollow's gorge platforming, Quiet Falls' suburban-oddball RPG, Emberline's three-winter family saga, Cascabel's commedia brawler, Ironvane's vertical shooter, and Crestline GP's speedboat regatta. APPLE WATCH ArcadeOS ships with an Apple Watch app. Six games are built for the wrist and the Digital Crown: Redline Ridge (crown hops lanes, hold to burn), Sunstrip (crown steers, tap to shift), Ironvane (crown flies, hold to charge, tap to call your wingman), Truck Simulator (roll the crown and the truck drives itself — steer, hold to brake, deliver the cargo), Haywire (a horse loose in a farmyard full of physics: buck, jump, cause chaos) and Cairnglass (a crown-controlled falling-sigil puzzler). Runs on its own — no iPhone needed nearby. FEATURES 68 games — every one with its own hand-crafted cartridge art Home screen: your games as icons, with folders you make yourself Gold-star collection: beat a game, earn its golden seal. Collect them all Authentic chip sound in every game, and full synthesized soundtracks in the 3D worlds Instant resume — every game remembers exactly where you left off No accounts. No ads. No tracking. No internet required. Just games New games ship in seasonal editions — Cherry, and now Hallow ArcadeOS games are living software: they grow new levels, mechanics, and polish over time. Your shelf gets better while you sleep. Powered by RetroApps.

Screenshots

Wisp Arcade4 screens
ArcadeOS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ArcadeOS at none against Wisp Arcade's 5. Wisp Arcade's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.5). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Wisp Arcade sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. ArcadeOS asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Wisp Arcade ships an update every 4 weeks, ArcadeOS every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Wisp Arcade versus ArcadeOS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWisp ArcadeArcadeOS
PriceFreeFree
Rating—3.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB24 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperCodeWisp, Inc.RetroApps LLC

Customer experience

Wisp Arcade

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

ArcadeOS

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Wisp Arcade

One-time5
  • 500 Wispcoins$4.99
  • 1050 Wispcoins$9.99
  • 2200 Wispcoins$19.99
Show 2 more
  • 5750 Wispcoins$49.99
  • 12000 Wispcoins$99.99
None

ArcadeOS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Wisp Arcade free?
Wisp Arcade is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ArcadeOS free?
ArcadeOS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Wisp Arcade or ArcadeOS have ads?
Neither Wisp Arcade nor ArcadeOS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Wisp Arcade or ArcadeOS?
Wisp Arcade ships an update every 4 weeks, and ArcadeOS every 3 weeks. Most recently, Wisp Arcade was updated on October 13, 2026 and ArcadeOS on October 19, 2026.

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