Comparison

The Guides vs Push the Circles

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

Head to head
About

The Guides

Embark on a journey of challenging codes, puzzles, and interactive ciphers that test your wit and imagination. Unravel a fragmented story by finding clues and patterns, utilizing integrated decoding tools and a distress support system.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of challenging codes and puzzles
  • Interactive ciphers
  • Fragmented story to unravel
  • Integrated decoding tools (Morse, binary)
  • Screenshot saving for clues
  • Distress support system
Features
Read full description

Featured by Apple in: 15 Most Mind-Bending Puzzlers, 15 Most Mysterious Games, The Best Games You’ve Never Played, Challenge Your Brain, Best New Games * * * * * “Best Mobile Games of 2015” — CNET “Best iOS Games of 2015” — Apple ‘N’ Apps “Best One Handed Mobile Games for Long Commutes” — Appcessories * * * * * Consisting of hundreds of extremely challenging codes, puzzles and interactive ciphers, The Guides is a journey that will challenge your wit, stretch your imagination and test your ingenuity in unique and innovative ways. Simply stated, they’re not easy. Progressing will be difficult, but you have the appropriate tools at your disposal. Everything you need to proceed is — or has been — provided. Look for clues and patterns to build on what you have learned. Remember what you have seen as for no detail is too subtle or insignificant. As you explore deeper, you’ll begin to unravel the enigma of The Guides. Peculiar, isn't it? • • • • • • • "From the word 'Go'... it tells you nothing. And you have to work it out for yourself. And that, my friends, that is cool." James Gilmour for App Spy "The Guides gets under your skin... you’ll find yourself thinking about it outside of the game and coming back for more." Jennifer Allen for 148apps "The Guides is one of the year’s most interesting puzzle games. It’s a beautifully designed toy box filled with an enormous variety of code-breaking ciphers and visual riddles..." Owen Faraday for Pocket Tactics "It's brilliant, uncompromising, satisfying, and one of the best games I have ever played on my phone... quite possibly on any platform." chanandler of App Army for Pocket Gamer • • • • • • • • Four Sections and 100 pages embedded with countless challenges. • Meticulously designed interactive puzzles and ciphers with each being more unique than the last. • Piece together the fragmented story to reveal the source of the messages. • Various game mechanics such as the code interface screen and the title bar to provide added layers of support. • Integrated decoding tools — including morse, binary and many more — to assist you on your journey. • Ability to save screenshots to keep track of invaluable clues and notes. • A distress support system is available if you find yourself stuck, but use sparingly, for your transmissions are limited. Official Site: theguidesapp.com General Inquiries: info@theguidesapp.com Twitter: twitter.com/theguidesapp Facebook: fb.com/theguidesapp Instagram: instagram.com/theguidesapp

About

Push the Circles

A tactical puzzle game where players stack rings of the same color to achieve high scores. Unlock new levels by reaching point milestones and strategically use special rings to maximize your score.

Highlights
  • Tactical ring stacking gameplay
  • Three unlockable difficulty levels
  • Score-based level progression
  • Increasing ring values with superposition
  • Special silver and joker rings
  • Dynamic field filling with new rings
Features
Read full description

Push the Circles is a tactical high score game with 3 different levels. Activation as follows: - Level „Easy“ is activated immediately. - Level „Medium“ will be unlocked upon scoring 10,000 points in Level „Easy“. - Level „Complex" will be unlocked upon scoring of 100,000 points in the level „Medium“. Rules: Rings of the same color have to be vertically or horizontally placed on each other. While no rings of a different color can be skipped, only empty fields can be skipped. The value of a ring increases with the number of superposed rings. The start value of a ring is 1. When superimposing the values of the start and end ring are added, the value of the starting ring is doubled. The value of a ring can increase to max. 10,000 points. After each move, the field is filled with rings again: Ring value 0 - 6: no new ring Ring value 7- 15: 1 new ring Ring value 16-31: 2 new rings Ring value 32-63: 3 new rings Ring Value 64: 100 - 5 new rings Ring value > 100: No new ring Where the field is filled from left to right and from bottom to top with rings random color. With higher score and more tactical options also free combinable silver and joker rings will appear.

Screenshots

The Guides4 screens
Push the Circles4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Push the Circles at Free against The Guides's $2.99. Push the Circles also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8). The Guides's advantage is ratings volume (731 vs 1) and review sentiment (88% vs 67%). On update cadence, ads, 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

Push the Circles is free to download; The Guides costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Push the Circles holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Guides has 731 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 88% of The Guides's written reviews are positive against 67% of Push the Circles's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Guides ships an update every 4 months, Push the Circles every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
The Guides versus Push the Circles: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe GuidesPush the Circles
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (731 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.7% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings731 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS8.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer2 Fountains LLCDirk Schulz-Judith

Customer experience

The Guides

All ratings731 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral0.5%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews219 reviews
Positive87.7%
Neutral4.1%
Negative8.2%

Push the Circles

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

The Guides

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Puzzle solutions not being accepted correctly
  • App crashes or freezes when switching between puzzles

Requested features

3 requests
  • More frequent updates and new content
  • Improved UI and accessibility options
  • Hint system or gradual difficulty scaling

Push the Circles

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

The Guides

No in-app purchases

None

Push the Circles

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is The Guides free?
The Guides costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Push the Circles free?
Push the Circles is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, The Guides or Push the Circles?
Push the Circles is rated higher. The Guides averages 4.8 out of 5 from 731 ratings, while Push the Circles averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do The Guides or Push the Circles have ads?
Neither The Guides nor Push the Circles shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Guides or Push the Circles?
The Guides ships an update every 4 months, and Push the Circles every 7 months. Most recently, The Guides was updated on September 29, 2026 and Push the Circles on June 1, 2026.

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