Comparison

Glowdial vs Desert Caravan

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

Head to head
About

Glowdial

Features
Read full description

Glowdial is an idle game built around one gesture. Drag your thumb around the dial and let go. It coasts, ticking under your finger, and every turn makes Glow. Glow buys lights: a firefly, a candle, a lantern, a laser, a star. They keep the dial warm while you're gone. The dial has numbers, like a safe. Stop it on the right three in order and something opens. The story will tell you where to look. Players who find combinations get new finishes for their dial and permanent bonuses. Sometimes a number lights up. Land the dial on it exactly and it resonates. Sometimes a moth comes by. Catch it. When the dial burns out, you keep its filament and wind it around a new one, brighter than the last. The color climbs: Ember, Amber, Gold, White, Cyan, Violet, Ultraviolet, and one more. The music climbs with it. • One thumb. Spin, flick, tap. • Haptics on every detent. • Your lights work while you're away. • Eight hidden combinations, eight dial finishes, and seven color themes that each change the song. • An original soundtrack that opens up as you progress. • A story that arrives one line at a time. • No ads. No accounts. No tracking. Your save lives on your phone, and you can export it. Turn the dial.

About

Desert Caravan

Build a trading empire by leading camel caravans across ancient routes. Manage goods, upgrade your fleet, and hire guides to earn gold even when offline. Expand your reach from a small stall to a vast trading house.

Highlights
  • Lead camel caravans across trade routes
  • Grow a small stall into a trading house
  • Send caravans between oasis cities
  • Upgrade camels, water skins, and trade deals
  • Hire guides for automated routes
  • Experience random road events like sandstorms
  • Start new trading houses with permanent income boosts
Features
Read full description

Lead camel caravans across the old trade routes and grow a small stall in Cairo into a trading house that reaches Samarkand. Desert Caravan is an idle trading game. Send caravans between oasis cities, sell their goods, and spend your gold on more camels, faster trips and better deals. Hire a guide and a route runs on its own, so your caravans keep trading even while the app is closed. EIGHT CITIES, EIGHT GOODS • Cairo dates, Alexandria cotton, Petra incense and Damascus glass • Baghdad spices, Muscat pearls, Marrakesh leather and Samarkand silk • Each city opens a new route with richer goods and longer journeys BUILD YOUR CARAVANS • Buy camels to carry more cargo, with bonus rewards at 25, 50, 100 and 200 camels • Upgrade water skins for faster trips and trade deals for better prices • Buy one at a time, ten at once, or as many as you can afford HIRE GUIDES • A guide runs a route on repeat, so you never have to tap Send again • Guided routes keep earning for up to 8 hours while you are away • Come back to a welcome-back haul of everything your caravans made LIFE ON THE ROAD • Sandstorms close a route for a while • Rich merchants pay double for your next three loads • Lost camels wander across the map; tap one for a bonus • Open a chest every day for extra gold A NEW TRADING HOUSE • Reach Samarkand, then start a new trading house • Keep your reputation, and each point adds 2% to all your income forever FAIR AND OPTIONAL • Ads only play when you choose one, for boosts and bonuses • The Royal Charter is a single purchase that removes ad offers for good, doubles your income forever and gives you every ad reward automatically No account and no sign-in. Your progress stays on your device. Short sessions, a few times a day, with the desert waiting for you in between.

Screenshots

Glowdial4 screens
Desert Caravan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Glowdial at none against Desert Caravan's 1. Glowdial also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (daily vs every 10 days). On price 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. Desert Caravan sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Glowdial asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Glowdial ships an update daily, Desert Caravan every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 4 level
Glowdial versus Desert Caravan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGlowdialDesert Caravan
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLuke WadeMohamed Ali

In-app purchases

None

Glowdial

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Desert Caravan

One-time1
  • No Ads$2.99

Questions

Is Glowdial free?
Glowdial is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Desert Caravan free?
Desert Caravan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Glowdial or Desert Caravan have ads?
Desert Caravan shows ads; Glowdial does not.
Which is updated more often, Glowdial or Desert Caravan?
Glowdial ships an update daily, and Desert Caravan every 10 days. Most recently, Glowdial was updated on October 31, 2026 and Desert Caravan on October 31, 2026.

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