Comparison

Catchup vs Arcane Tower

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

Head to head
About

Catchup

Master a beautiful abstract strategy game by connecting hexes to create the largest group. Features include a challenging AI, online multiplayer, and pass-and-play options. Learn the simple rules and strive for difficult mastery.

Highlights
  • Interactive tutorial
  • Challenging AI opponent
  • Online turn-based multiplayer
  • Two-player pass-and-play
  • Minimalist graphics
  • Customizable colors
  • Leaderboards & Achievements
Read full description

Catchup is a simple game of surprising turnarounds. "Catchup is as elegant as a game can reasonably be, presented in a marvelously user-friendly way.” -Pocket Tactics (5-star review) "If you're even a little bit into strategy games, you need to get some Catchup all over your mobile device." -Touch Arcade (4 & 1/2 star review) Can you have the largest group at the end of the game? Connect your hexes to master this beautiful abstract strategy game. Features: - an interactive tutorial to teach you how to play - a challenging AI opponent whose difficulty changes as you play - online turn-based multiplayer via Game Center - two-player pass-and-play on the same device - beautiful and haunting music by Tori Kamal - minimalist graphics with customizable colors - Game Center Leaderboards & Achievements - simple and easy to learn rules and gameplay - difficult to master strategy Here are all the rules: 1. One player plays all the hexes of one color and the other player plays all the hexes of the other color. The first player begins by claiming 1 empty hex for their color. 2. Starting with the second player, each player must claim 1 or 2 hexes on their turn. 3. If the largest group of hexes at the end of a turn is larger than the largest group of hexes at the beginning of that turn (regardless of color), the next player may claim up to 3 hexes on their turn. (This does not apply after the first player claims a single hex in step 1 above.) 4. The game ends when the board is full. The player with the largest group wins. If the players’ largest groups are the same size, compare their second-largest groups, and so on, until you come to a pair which aren’t the same size. Whoever owns the larger of the two wins. Catchup is an original Board Game designed by Nick Bentley.

About

Arcane Tower

Embark on a challenging roguelike adventure as a brave wizard. Explore randomly generated maps, compete in daily challenges with global leaderboards, and learn from top player replays to defeat evil and uncover ancient secrets.

Highlights
  • Randomly generated maps
  • Challenging roguelike mechanics
  • Daily challenge mode
  • Global leaderboards
  • Watch top player replays
  • Single-player adventure
Features
Read full description

Evil reigns throughout the kingdom, darkness obscures the landscape. A brave wizard is determined to put an end to all of this. But there's only one way. The Arcane Tower keeps the powers and secrets required to defeat all the evil. Arcane Tower is a roguelike game with mechanics carefully designed to make every run challenging, interesting and incredibly fun. Key features: * Maps are randomly generated, meaning every run you play will be different from every other run you've played. * Daily Challenge! Every day a special map is generated, the same for everyone in the world. Compete in the daily leaderboards! * Watch other players: after playing a Daily Challenge, you can watch replays of the top players to see how they got their score.

Screenshots

Catchup3 screens
Arcane Tower4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Catchup at Free against Arcane Tower's $1.99. Arcane Tower's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 101 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On review sentiment, ratings volume, in-app purchases 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

Catchup is free to download; Arcane Tower costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Arcane Tower holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 5 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 88% of Catchup's written reviews are positive against 86% of Arcane Tower's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Catchup ships an update every 101 months, Arcane Tower every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and August 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Catchup versus Arcane Tower: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCatchupArcane Tower
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.7 (11 ratings)5.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews88.2% of reviews — better85.7% of reviews
Number of ratings11 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 101 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
Ads—No
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.6
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB7 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperMartin GriderDiego Cathalifaud

Customer experience

Catchup

All ratings11 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral9.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive88.2%
Neutral5.9%
Negative5.9%

Arcane Tower

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Catchup

No in-app purchases

None

Arcane Tower

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Catchup free?
Catchup is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Arcane Tower free?
Arcane Tower costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Catchup or Arcane Tower?
Arcane Tower is rated higher. Catchup averages 4.7 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Arcane Tower averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.
Which is updated more often, Catchup or Arcane Tower?
Catchup ships an update every 101 months, and Arcane Tower every 3 weeks. Most recently, Catchup was updated on September 14, 2026 and Arcane Tower on August 21, 2026.

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