Magic Touch vs Once Upon a Tower
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Magic Touch
Defend your castle by drawing magical spells with your finger to pop incoming balloons. Master intuitive gesture recognition to defeat aggressive hordes and protect the kingdom. Unlock new spells and power-ups to become the ultimate wizard.
- Intuitive gesture recognition drawing
- Simple drawing concept
- Game Center support
- Unlock new spells
- Slow down time
- Turn enemies into frogs
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Wanted, Wizard required for defence duties. Must be proficient in spell casting to pop varying balloon types that may be utilised by intruders. Must be confident working alone and comfortable facing aggressive hordes. Advanced magic techniques desirable but can be learnt on the job. Applicant expected to provide their own spell book and potion bottles. They also may be required to make tea and answer phone calls. Applicants should send CVs and potions portfolio to enquiries-castleundersiege@nitrome.com Use you finger to draw shapes. Match the shapes on balloons to pop them sending the invaders smashing to the ground. Keep the Enemy from reaching the castle for as long as possible! Features: - Intuitive gesture recognition drawing gameplay. - A simple drawing concept that anyone can grasp! - Full game centre support to compete with friends and foes. - Collect coins to unlock new awesome spells. Slow Down time! Turn enemies into frogs! Summon a mighty Dragon! Cover the floor on Fire! Make the Castle Turrets grow Gun Turrets! Important information This game contains third party advertising which can be removed via a one time IAP. This game contains coins which can be collected within the game for free, bought with real money or via earned via promotions. This game contains cross promotion for other Nitrome games and this is not removed with the IAP for removal of ads.
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!
- Tower escape adventure
- Battle enemies
- Fight a dragon
- Princess protagonist
- Offline gameplay
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Once Upon a Tower at 4.7 against Magic Touch's 4.5. Once Upon a Tower also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 62%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Magic Touch sells 4 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.
Once Upon a Tower holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.2K and 3.2K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of Magic Touch's written reviews are positive against 75% of Once Upon a Tower's.
Magic Touch ships an update every 2 months, Once Upon a Tower every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Magic Touch | Once Upon a Tower |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.2K ratings) | 4.7 (3.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.2% of reviews | 75.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.2K | 3.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 374 MB | 226 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Nitrome | Pomelo Games |
Customer experience
Magic Touch
Once Upon a Tower
User reviews
Magic Touch
From 1.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast-paced gameplay
- 👍 Fun and addictive
- 💎 Great graphics and art style
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
- 🔍 Inconsistent shape recognition
- 📢 Too many ads
Once Upon a Tower
From 3.2K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Magic Touch
Reported bugs
3 issues- Game freezes after losing
- Spells not working as intended
- Inconsistent scoring and coin rewards
Requested features
3 requests- Additional game modes and difficulty levels
- Ability to disable certain spells
- Save progress and high scores
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
Magic Touch
- Coins Pack 1$0.99
- Remove Ads$1.99
- Coins Pack 2$2.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Coins Pack 3$6.99
Once Upon a Tower
- Oscura$0.99
- Sigrid$0.99
- Noriko$0.99
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- 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 Magic Touch free?
Is Once Upon a Tower free?
Which has better reviews, Magic Touch or Once Upon a Tower?
Do Magic Touch or Once Upon a Tower have ads?
Which is updated more often, Magic Touch or Once Upon a Tower?
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