Comparison

Seashine vs Once Upon a Tower

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

Head to head
About

Seashine

Explore a mysterious, dangerous underworld as a fragile jellyfish. Absorb light to survive longer and evade bizarre creatures lurking in the darkness. Experience an endless, unique survival quest with intuitive touch controls and a dynamic soundtrack.

Highlights
  • Endless underworld exploration
  • Unique, unlimited gameplay
  • Intuitive touch controls
  • Dynamic reactive soundtrack
  • Survival against bizarre creatures
Features
Read full description

How long will you survive in the abyss? Dive now into the abyss, in an endless quest for survival. You are born as a fragile jellyfish, struggling to maintain a fading light in the darkness of the deep ocean caves. Explore this mysterious underworld and absorb all the light you find on your way to live a few more seconds. But be aware... As poetic as this place seems to be, bizarre creatures and plants lurk in the obscurity, waiting to take a bite of you! Survival of the fittest inside nature's most well kept secret, the depths of the ocean. - Explore a gorgeous and endless underworld full of unknown dangers and strange creatures. - An unlimited experience where each game is unique. You'll never face the same challenge twice. - Intuitive controls specially made for touch devices. - A beautiful dynamic soundtrack reacting to the environment.

About

Once Upon a Tower

Break free from your tower prison in this adventure game. Armed with a war hammer, you'll battle enemies and escape a dragon. Your rescue is up to you!

Highlights
  • Tower escape adventure
  • Battle enemies
  • Fight a dragon
  • Princess protagonist
  • Offline gameplay
Features
Read full description

Ever wanted to escape somewhere else? Ever felt like you were trapped in a high tower? Ever found yourself waiting for the valiant knight to save you? Wait no more! Cause he isn't coming -- No, really, he isn't. He was literally eaten by that guardian dragon over there. But fear no more, you have all you need to set yourself free. The brave knight left behind his war hammer, I'm sure you can put it to good use, right? You can beat the enemies. You can escape the dragon. YOU CAN DO THIS! Now let the adventure begin, once upon a tower.

Screenshots

Seashine4 screens
Once Upon a Tower4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Seashine at none against Once Upon a Tower's shown. Seashine also leads on review sentiment (94% vs 75%). Once Upon a Tower's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Seashine sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Once Upon a Tower sells 24 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Seashine against 4.7 for Once Upon a Tower. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.7K and 3.2K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 94% of Seashine's written reviews are positive against 75% of Once Upon a Tower's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Seashine ships an update monthly, Once Upon a Tower every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Seashine versus Once Upon a Tower: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSeashineOnce Upon a Tower
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4.7K ratings) — better4.7 (3.2K ratings)
Positive reviews93.5% of reviews — better75.1% of reviews
Number of ratings4.7K — better3.2K
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS15.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size217 MB226 MB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperPatrick EllisPomelo Games

Customer experience

Seashine

All ratings4,713 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral2.4%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews354 reviews
Positive93.5%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.4%

Once Upon a Tower

All ratings3,248 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews1,166 reviews
Positive75.1%
Neutral9.0%
Negative15.9%

User reviews

Seashine

From 4.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Beautiful graphics and atmosphere
  • 🎶 Calming and immersive soundtrack
  • 🕹️ Unique and challenging gameplay
  • 🔍 Interesting creature discoveries
  • 📚 Detailed creature encyclopedia

Room to improve

  • 🕹️ Difficult controls
  • ⏱️ Light meter drains too quickly
  • 🐲 Aggressive enemy encounters
  • 🔁 Repetitive gameplay after discovery
  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases

Once Upon a Tower

From 3.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💕 Addictive gameplay
  • 🎨 Beautiful graphics
  • 🎮 Simple but engaging mechanics
  • 🚀 Great time killer
  • 👍 Empowering female characters

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Unclear instructions/tutorials
  • 🔁 Repetitive levels
  • 💰 Aggressive monetization with ads
  • 🤖 Unresponsive controls

Bugs and requests

Seashine

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Occasional crashes or freezes
  • Disappearing collectibles or progress loss
  • Inconsistent enemy spawn patterns

Requested features

5 requests
  • Peaceful exploration mode without enemies
  • More diverse environments and creatures
  • Ability to play as other sea creatures
  • Multiplayer or co-op gameplay
  • Improved tutorial and onboarding

Once Upon a Tower

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Game freezes when watching ads
  • Progress resets after crashes
  • Challenges not tracking properly
  • Compatibility issues on older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • More character/princess variety
  • Ability to save progress
  • Difficulty settings
  • Multiplayer mode
  • Level editor

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Seashine

One-time6
  • 40 Stars$0.49
  • 100 Stars$0.99
  • 200 Stars$1.89
Show 3 more
  • 400 Stars$2.99
  • Star Doubler$3.99
  • 800 Stars$4.99
24 purchases

Once Upon a Tower

One-time24
  • Oscura$0.99
  • Sigrid$0.99
  • Noriko$0.99
Show 21 more
  • Lives Pack x10$0.99
  • Myrina$0.99
  • Loriel$0.99
  • Denise$0.99
  • Ali'i$0.99
  • Lilith$0.99
  • Dragon scales x20$0.99
  • Lives Pack x25$0.99
  • Rita$0.99
  • Linda$0.99
  • Muffin$0.99
  • Xochi$0.99
  • Nzinga$0.99
  • Draculina$0.99
  • Lives Pack x25$1.99
  • Lives Pack x60$3.99
  • Dragon scales x100$3.99
  • Lives Pack x200$4.99
  • Lives Pack x200$9.99
  • Lives Pack x1,500$49.99
  • Lives Pack x9,999$99.99

Questions

Is Seashine free?
Seashine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Once Upon a Tower free?
Once Upon a Tower is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Seashine or Once Upon a Tower?
Seashine is rated higher. Seashine averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4.7K ratings, while Once Upon a Tower averages 4.7 from 3.2K ratings.
Do Seashine or Once Upon a Tower have ads?
Once Upon a Tower shows ads; Seashine does not.
Which is updated more often, Seashine or Once Upon a Tower?
Seashine ships an update monthly, and Once Upon a Tower every 3 weeks. Most recently, Seashine was updated on September 22, 2026 and Once Upon a Tower on September 23, 2026.

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