Rules! vs Prune
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Rules!
Engage in a fast-paced, challenging, and fun puzzle game with a hundred levels. Features a daily brain workout for Apple Watch and animated stickers. Offers multiple game modes and unique mechanics.
- Daily Apple Watch brain workout
- Animated sticker pack
- Beginner, Expert, or Timeless game modes
- Multi-touch interface
- Color perception assistance
- Surprising new game mechanics
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• Includes a daily brain workout mini-game for Apple Watch • Includes animated sticker pack • App Store – Best Apple Watch Game of 2015 • App Store – Best of 2014 • German Developer Award 2014 – Best mobile Game • German Video Game Award 2015 – Best mobile Game • Pocket Gamer Awards 2015 Finalist Best Casual/Puzzle Game & Most Innovative Game RULES! is a cute puzzle game that's challenging, fast-paced and fun. • Choose your preferred type of game: Beginner, Expert or Timeless • “What’s presented here is a stylish, original, clever puzzle game that I’m having trouble putting down long enough to write this review.” ~ Gamezebo “A delightfully constructed memory test that grows in complexity and appeal the deeper in you go.” ~ Pocket Gamer “The Coding Monkeys have never released anything that wasn’t utterly brilliant, therefore Rules shall almost certainly be brilliant.” ~ Pocket Tactics Follow RULES! into a hundred level-deep maze of cuteness and order: • Multi-touch interface at its finest • Color perception assistance mode • Whales, Unicorns, Robots and Squirrels! • A plethora of surprising new game mechanics
Prune
Cultivate a digital tree in a hostile world by guiding its growth towards sunlight. Uncover a hidden story and bring life to a forgotten landscape with this meditative and beautiful game.
- Grow and shape trees
- Minimalist art and interface
- Meditative music and sound
- No in-app purchases or monetization
- Share tree creations
- iCloud progress synchronization
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~ Apple Game of the Year 2015 ~ ~ TIME Magazine Game of the Year 2015 ~ Prune is a love letter to trees. A game about the beauty and joy of cultivation. With a swipe of a finger, grow and shape your tree into the sunlight while avoiding the dangers of a hostile world. Bring life to a forgotten landscape and uncover a story hidden deep beneath the soil. • A unique digital plant for your pocket • Beautiful, minimalist art and a super clean interface—it's just you and the trees • Meditative music and sound design for you to zen out to • No IAP, no monetization strategy, no currencies • Share screenshots of your unique tree creations with friends • Synchronize progress across all your devices using iCloud ----- RECEPTION ----- "Unlike anything I've played before... the kind of experience I want to pull out to show my friends." - The Verge "Wildly creative, totally addictive, and oddly soothing" - Entertainment Weekly "Prune is a gorgeous and unique experience." - 5/5 TouchArcade "Prune is an awe-inspiring work of digital poetry that transcends its initial subject material to explore a much larger, much more complex theme, in an articulate and powerfully moving manner" - 10/10 Pocket Gamer "A collaboration that feels more like a dance than puzzle-solving." - Kill Screen ----- AWARDS ----- • Winner - Best Upcoming Game - 11th International Mobile Gaming Awards • Finalist - IndieCade Festival 2015 • Official Selection - Brazil's FILE Festival • Runner-Up - IndiePlus "Make Something Great" Contest • Official Selection - Out of Index Experimental Games Festival
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is chart position: Prune at #53 against Rules!'s unranked. Prune also leads on ratings volume (568 vs 67) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.2). Rules!'s advantage is price ($2.99 vs $4.99). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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
Rules! costs $2.99 and Prune $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Rules! against 4.3 for Prune. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Prune has 568 ratings behind it against 67, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Rules!'s written reviews are positive against 66% of Prune's.
Rules! ships an update monthly, Prune every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Rules! | Prune |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (67 ratings) | 4.3 (568 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 68.5% of reviews — better | 66.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 67 | 568 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #53 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.2 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 123 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 137b | Joel McDonald LLC |
Customer experience
Rules!
Prune
User reviews
Rules!
From 67 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Challenging and fun game
- 👍 Gorgeous design and smooth UI
- 👍 Great brain workout
- 👍 Addictive gameplay
- 👍 Fair monetization with no ads or IAPs
Room to improve
- 🕰️ Very short time limit
- 🔁 Having to restart from level 1 after losing
- 🎨 Colorblind-unfriendly
- 🤔 Repetitive gameplay with same rule order
Prune
From 568 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🌳 Beautiful, elegant design
- 🕹️ Relaxing, meditative gameplay
- 🎶 Calming, atmospheric soundtrack
- 🌟 Unique, artistic experience
- 👍 Simple and intuitive controls
Room to improve
- ⏱️ Levels can feel too time-sensitive
- 🤔 Unclear objectives and mechanics
- 🕰️ Game is too short for the price
- 🐛 Performance issues on older devices
Bugs and requests
Rules!
Reported bugs
2 issues- Freezing and crashing issues, especially on Apple Watch
- Unresponsive tapping on certain tiles
Requested features
5 requests- Option to save progress and continue from last level
- Randomized rule order
- Difficulty settings with longer time limits
- Colorblind accessibility options
- More game modes and challenges
Prune
Reported bugs
2 issues- Progress reset after updates
- Unresponsive controls at times
Requested features
4 requests- More levels and content updates
- Zen mode with no time constraints
- Level editor and sharing capabilities
- Improved tutorials and explanations
In-app purchases
Rules!
No in-app purchases
Prune
No in-app purchases








