Whispering Willows vs Second Best
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Whispering Willows
Embark on a harrowing journey as Elena Elkhorn to find her missing father and uncover the secrets of Willows Mansion. Utilize a unique amulet for astral projection to communicate with the dead, solve puzzles, and help lingering souls in a beautifully hand-drawn 2D world.
- Astral projection to communicate with the dead
- Solve mansion tricks and puzzles
- Help lingering souls
- Explore a hand-drawn 2D world
- Immersive haunting music and sound effects
- Unlock puzzling secrets
Read full descriptionHide full description
Young Elena Elkhorn embarks on a harrowing journey to find her missing father and discover the secrets of the Willows Mansion. Aiding her journey is a unique amulet, she received from her father, which allows her to astral project her spirit into a ghostly-realm and communicate with the dead. Play as Elena to find her missing father, use your astral projection to solves the mansion’s tricks and puzzles, help the lingering souls and discover so much more in Whispering Willows. Game Features: • Immerse yourself in a beautifully hand-drawn 2-D world as you traverse the Mansion grounds • Allow the haunting music and chilling sound effects to send goosebumps across your neck. • Let the history of the Willows Mansion draw you into a plot full of twists and betrayal. • Explore the vast Mansion and unlock its puzzling secrets as you search for your missing Father. Awards: • First Place- Seattle Indie Game Competition • Best Story- Casual Connect Indie Prize • Most Immersive- OUYA CREATE Game Jam • Successfully Funded Kickstarter • Winner- Cerebral Indie Developer Grant Supports: • Most wireless bluetooth controllers • 20 achievements • 720 and 1080p resolutions If your device crashes or has issues while running the game, please contact "support [at] nightlightint [dot] com" and we'll do our best to help you!
Second Best
Continue an absurd mystery adventure filled with unexpected twists and whimsical humor. Solve clever puzzles and explore a world brought to life with charming hand-drawn visuals. Uncover the truth about your identity and escape a perilous journey.
- Absurd mystery adventure
- Interactive story with twists
- Classic point and click gameplay
- Solve zany puzzles
- Hand-drawn visuals
- Colorful characters
Read full descriptionHide full description
The excitement CONTINUES. You're a LONGER way from home than you ever thought possible. And the more you learn about your IDENTITY, the less you seem to KNOW. It's not easy being BEST. Welcome back to the world of COLBIES and OPIES, where nothing is what you think, not even your OWN PAST … WHEN WE LAST LEFT OFF IN BESTED You had just been spirited away by a gang of SUPERHUMAN meanies. WHY are they doing this, and can you get a better stateroom for the JOURNEY? Find the answers to these questions and more, and try not to get tangled up in too many MURDERS along the way. FEATURES • Absurd Mystery Adventure – A comedy-filled interactive story with unexpected twists, whimsical humor, and a genuinely complex but curious plot. • Classic Point and Click Gameplay – Tap around, poke things, collect clues, and talk your way out of (and into) trouble. • Zany Puzzles – Solve clever puzzles that are unique and satisfying, the MysteryCaper way! • Hand-Drawn Visuals – Explore a world brought to life with charming art created by hand. Human hand. • Colorful Characters – From a puzzling ally to ship crew to tricky villains, everyone's got something to hide. – MysteryCaper. It's COMEDY SOLVED.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Second Best at 100% against Whispering Willows's 51%. Second Best also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and chart position (#194 vs unranked). Whispering Willows's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months) and price ($4.99 vs $5.99). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Whispering Willows costs $4.99 and Second Best $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Second Best holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 31 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 51% of Whispering Willows's written reviews are positive against 100% of Second Best's.
Whispering Willows ships an update every 6 weeks, Second Best every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Whispering Willows | Second Best |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $5.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (20 ratings) | 5.0 (31 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.6% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 20 | 31 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #194 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 6.0 — better | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.5 GB | 340 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Akupara Games | MysteryCaper, LLC |
Customer experience
Whispering Willows
Second Best
Bugs and requests
Whispering Willows
Reported bugs
20 issues- Game crashes frequently
- Black screen on loading
- Status bar not disappearing
- Long loading times
- Trophies not registering without manual login
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- No screen size support for iPhone X
- Game won't load on iPad
- Game crashes when entering mansion
- Game closes after starting credits
- Game crashes when changing screens
- Controls are poorly rendered and cumbersome
- Joystick control scheme is bad
- Game crashes when walking down a new passage
- UI is bugged and ugly
- Game closes on second chapter
- Text in bubbles exceeds screen
- Character movement is slow and clunky
- Ghost movement is sluggish
- Buttons are too large and insensitive
- Game crashes on older iPads
Requested features
8 requests- Update the game
- Make controls more responsive
- Add more chapters/content
- Improve UI
- Add a task list or map
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Make puzzles more challenging
- Full screen support for newer devices
- Make cinematics illustrations more professional
Second Best
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Whispering Willows
No in-app purchases
Second Best
No in-app purchases





