Comparison

Idle Hands vs Pixel Popper

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

Head to head
About

Idle Hands

Test your steadiness by holding your phone perfectly still. Survive for as long as possible, tapping icons that appear for bonus points. Compete on local leaderboards and see how you rank against others nearby.

Highlights
  • Hold phone perfectly still
  • Tap flashing icons for bonus points
  • Remember icon order for extra score
  • Local leaderboards (500m to 20km)
  • Front camera captures failure photos
  • Three plays per day
Features
Read full description

How long can you hold your phone perfectly still? That's the whole game. Hold it steady, hold it level, and don't wobble. Every second counts. One twitch and it's over. Sounds easy. It isn't. IT GETS HARDER THE LONGER YOU LAST The margin for error shrinks the whole time you're playing. Survive long enough and even a heartbeat is enough to end you. And every time you beat your best for the day, the rest of today's rounds start even harder. Tomorrow it resets. POP THE ICONS โ€” IF YOU DARE Little hand-drawn icons flash up while you're playing. Tap one before it disappears and it explodes for bonus points. Just remember: touching the screen is the fastest way to wobble out. That's the gamble. THEN PROVE YOU WERE WATCHING When your round ends, you'll be asked to tap them back in the order they appeared. Points for every one you get right. YOUR SCORE, ONE NUMBER 10 points per second survived, 25 for every icon you pop, 15 for every one you remember. Steady hands still win โ€” but the icons are how you beat someone who lasted just as long as you. THE LEADERBOARD IS LOCAL See how you rank against people actually near you โ€” within 500m, 1km, or right out to 20km. Today, this week, this month. The moment you fail, the front camera catches your face, and that photo goes up next to your score for everyone nearby to see. Decorate it with icons and emoji if you're feeling brave. KEEP COMING BACK Play two days running and a streak counter shows up. Some days a bounty appears too โ€” beat whoever's ranked just above you nearby and get a 10% bonus on your score. And if you ever beat someone's score for the first time, you earn a curse: haunt any nearby player, or yourself, with your own game-over photo floating across their screen for their entire next round. THREE PLAYS A DAY Three skulls on the home screen. One gets crossed off every time you start a round. They come back at midnight. Make them count. Free to play, every day. Idle Hands. Hold still. Stay level. Don't wobble. Privacy Policy: https://artificialigknorance.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Pixel Popper

Features
Read full description

Tap a blaster. It fires at the lowest block of its own color, over and over, until its ammo runs out. Clear every block and the picture underneath is yours. That is the whole rule, and it takes about ten seconds to learn. What makes it a puzzle is the dock: only a few blasters fit at once, and once one is in, it stays until it has fired everything it has. Send in the wrong color at the wrong moment and the dock jams with nothing left to shoot. 128 PICTURES, EIGHT CHAPTERS Work through the Everyday things, then The Deep, the Night Sky, a Garden, a Kitchen, the Sky, a Toy Box and finally The Band. Every picture you finish is added to your gallery in full color. 500 LEVELS, EVERY ONE SOLVABLE Each level is checked by a solver before it ships, so there is always a way through โ€” no dead ends, no levels that only luck can beat. Every fifth level is a deliberate spike, tuned to be genuinely hard without being unfair. THINGS TO COME BACK FOR - Three daily quests, fresh every midnight - A seven-day reward streak, and a chest for every five levels cleared in a row - Star and gallery reward ladders that keep paying as you climb - Three stars on a level means matching the solver's own tap count BOOSTERS WHEN YOU WANT THEM Undo a tap, drop in a joker that shoots any color, or open one more dock slot. They help; they are never required. Coins come from playing, not from your wallet. Plays offline. Portrait, one hand, any length of session.

Screenshots

Idle Hands2 screens
Pixel Popper4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pixel Popper at none against Idle Hands's 1. Idle Hands's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. Idle Hands sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $0.99 per month. Pixel Popper asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 6 level
Idle Hands versus Pixel Popper: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIdle HandsPixel Popper
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews100.0% of reviewsโ€”
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysโ€”
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
MonetizationSubscriptionโ€”
DevicesiPhone, iPad โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size22 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMike DangerfieldMevlut Sava

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Idle Hands

Subscriptions1
  • Idle Hands Pro$0.991 Month
None

Pixel Popper

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Idle Hands free?
Idle Hands is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pixel Popper free?
Pixel Popper is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Idle Hands or Pixel Popper have ads?
Pixel Popper shows ads; Idle Hands does not.

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