Comparison

Blackbox vs Roll

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

Head to head
About

Blackbox

This puzzle game challenges you to solve intricate problems without touching the screen. It utilizes minimalistic visual cues, sonic interfaces, and haptic feedback to guide you through unique challenges that require thinking outside the box. Discover a new way to interact with your device and prove your cleverness.

Highlights
  • Touchless gameplay
  • Minimalistic visual clues
  • Sonic interfaces
  • Haptic feedback
  • External puzzle solving
  • Easter eggs
Features
Read full description

So you think you understand this thing you’re holding? Think again. Stop tapping. Stop swiping. In fact, stop touching the screen at all. To crack Blackbox’s puzzles you’ll need to find solitude and stillness, climb mountains, call on friends, get in tune with the cosmos, and think outside the box. Minimalistic visual clues make for incredibly satisfying “Aha!” moments, while sonic interfaces provide an extra level of guidance and nuance that makes Blackbox accessible with or without vision. Thoughtful haptic feedback, Easter eggs on Easter eggs, and solutions that can’t be found beneath the glass of your screen redefine what a puzzle can be. You’ll never see your device the same way again. Think you’re clever? Prove it. (Blackbox is a living game under active development by Ryan McLeod. When not eating burritos or drinking coffee, he’s busy designing and developing new Blackbox challenges.) ■

About

Roll

Engage in a relaxing dice-rolling experience where you aim to collect points by rolling dice and strategically upgrading them. This game blends elements of strategy, clicker, and roguelike deckbuilders for a unique dice-building system with deep strategic choices. Enjoy a meditative escape with its minimalistic design and peaceful atmosphere.

Highlights
  • Dice rolling for points
  • Dice upgrading system
  • Strategy and critical thinking
  • Relaxing and meditative experience
  • Unique dicebuilding synergies
  • Highscore chasing
Features
Read full description

In Roll, you have 2500 rolls to collect as many points as possible. Roll your dice to gain points, spend your points to upgrade your dice, and repeat. Borrowing gameplay elements from strategy, clicker, and roguelike deckbuilder genres, Roll creates a perfect balance of relaxation with critical thinking. While the "Clicker"/"Incremental" genre is not known for its variety or depth of game mechanics, Roll offers a unique dicebuilding system which allows you to explore different strategies and synergies between upgrades. Each run will present you with new and interesting decisions creating a huge depth of strategy and keeping the game feeling always fresh. Roll is designed to be a relaxing and meditative experience. Get lost in the satisfying sounds and effects as all your worries melt away. From the minimalistic UI to the slow peaceful music, everything was designed to create the perfect zen environment. If you enjoy building an engine and watching it grow, chasing down highscores, or just need to escape from your own thoughts, then I really hope you'll enjoy my game, Roll. :)

Screenshots

Blackbox4 screens
Roll4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Blackbox at 109K against Roll's 439. Blackbox also leads on review sentiment (93% vs 78%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). Roll's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.6). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Blackbox sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Roll sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Blackbox holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Blackbox has 109K ratings behind it against 439, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 93% of Blackbox's written reviews are positive against 78% of Roll's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Blackbox ships an update every 9 days, Roll weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Blackbox versus Roll: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlackboxRoll
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (109K ratings) — better4.6 (439 ratings)
Positive reviews92.6% of reviews — better78.2% of reviews
Number of ratings109K — better439
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#40 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size209 MB370 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShapes and Stories LLCJoseph Anthony Distler

Customer experience

Blackbox

All ratings108,586 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews4,671 reviews
Positive92.6%
Neutral3.6%
Negative3.8%

Roll

All ratings439 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral2.7%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews119 reviews
Positive78.2%
Neutral8.4%
Negative13.4%

User reviews

Blackbox

From 109K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Unique and creative gameplay
  • 🤔 Challenges users to think outside the box
  • 😄 Humorous and witty comments
  • 🔑 Utilizes phone features in innovative ways

Room to improve

  • 🤯 Extremely challenging puzzles
  • 💰 Expensive for additional content
  • 🤖 Concerns about app accessing device permissions
  • 🚗 Puzzles requiring travel/location are inaccessible for some

Roll

From 439 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to play
  • 👍 Addictive gameplay
  • 🔒 No ads or microtransactions
  • 🚀 Smooth performance
  • 👍 Unique and innovative

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches
  • 👎 Limited free content
  • 👎 Confusing or overwhelming UI
  • 👎 Lack of customization options
  • 👎 Repetitive gameplay

Bugs and requests

Blackbox

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Hints not working as expected
  • Progress reset after app update

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to earn hint credits through watching ads
  • Include more free puzzles
  • Improve accessibility for users with limited mobility
  • Provide better guidance and instructions for puzzles

Roll

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Upgrade shop issues
  • Crashes and freezes
  • Swiping/tapping issues
  • Incompatibility with older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline mode
  • More dice skins and customization
  • Sandbox mode with unlimited rolls
  • Improved dice management UI
  • More detailed stats and analytics

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Blackbox

One-time10
  • Tiny Hint Pack$1.19
  • Small Hint Pack$2.39
  • Erudite Pack$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Push Pack$2.99
  • Coffee for Ryan$4.49
  • Basic Pack$4.99
  • Medium Hint Pack$5.00
  • All Knowing Pack$7.99
  • Large Hint Pack$10.00
  • Extra Large Hint Pack$20.00
1 purchases

Roll

One-time1
  • Roll Premium$3.99

Questions

Is Blackbox free?
Blackbox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Roll free?
Roll is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Blackbox or Roll?
Blackbox is rated higher. Blackbox averages 4.8 out of 5 from 109K ratings, while Roll averages 4.6 from 439 ratings.
Do Blackbox or Roll have ads?
Neither Blackbox nor Roll shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Blackbox or Roll?
Blackbox ships an update every 9 days, and Roll weekly. Most recently, Blackbox was updated on October 3, 2026 and Roll on October 2, 2026.

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