Comparison

Join the Dots vs Balls vs. Pixels

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

Head to head
About

Join the Dots

This educational game helps preschoolers develop thinking, memory, and attention by connecting numbered or lettered dots to reveal hidden dinosaur pictures. Once revealed, children can color the images with a customizable palette. It offers three engaging game modes for early learning.

Highlights
  • Connect points by numbers or letters
  • Reveal hidden dinosaur pictures
  • Color revealed images
  • Customizable color palette
  • Three learning modes: numbers, letters, coloring
  • Hints for incorrect choices
Features
Read full description

Dinosaurs lived on Earth millions of years ago, long before our ancestors emerged on the face of the planet. These amazing animals boggle our imagination by their variety and size. Some were small like modern lizards, others as huge as a multi-storey building. Some were predators, for example the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Allosaurus, Velociraptor, Spinosaurus, while others were herbivorous - like the Diplodocus, Ankylosaurus and Iguanodon. Some species could fly, some lived in water, but most of them walked on the ancient land. Dinosaurs lived in the Mesozoic era, which is subdivided into three periods: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Today, archaeologists study the remains of these animals and can only assume how they looked and lived. Features: ◦ Connect points by numbers or letters ◦ When points are connected, you will see the silhouette of a hidden picture ◦ Once all the points have been connected, you can color the picture ◦ Choosing a wrong symbol three times in a row will bring up a tip ◦ Blue, orange, green or pink stars make the game even more exciting ◦ Easy-to-use palette that allows you to put together your own unique set of colors ◦ Colored pictures automatically saved on closing the program Connect points is a learning puzzle for small children. It helps develop thinking, improve memory and attention. The application has three game modes: by numbers, letters and coloring. Game modes with letters and numbers will be useful for kindergarten and pre-K kids. Connecting by numbers will help to easily memorize the order of numbers and learn to count. To do this, you need to consecutively connect circles with numbers starting from 1. As you connect circles in the right order, the silhouette of a hidden picture will become more and more visible. If three points are chosen incorrectly, a tip will pop up. Once all the points are fully connected, the picture will become fully visible and you’ll be able to color it. Those studying the alphabet can choose to connect points by letters. It is important that children know letters as early as possible, since it is essential for learning to read and write. But knowing the order of letters in the alphabet is also very important! This can be achieved by connecting circles with letters in the right sequence. The coloring mode will be especially appreciated by young artists. In this mode, you can proceed to coloring pictures without connecting points. To make the process even more exciting, you can change any predefined color. To do this, press and hold the paint bucket and choose the necessary color from the palette.

About

Balls vs. Pixels

Experience a vibrant arcade brick-breaker with a pixelated twist. Navigate colorful levels, master challenging gameplay, and defeat enemies to reach the final boss. Enjoy a nostalgic yet fresh take on a classic.

Highlights
  • Pixelated brick-breaking gameplay
  • 15 colorful levels
  • Various power-ups (enlarge paddle, triple ball, atomic ball)
  • Enemies that interfere with gameplay
  • GameCenter integration
  • PixelArt graphics
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Do you remember Arkanoid? In this arcade game inspired by the famous arcade brick-breaker from the 80's, pixels replace bricks. This gives rise to a multi-color game with PixelArt on some levels. The game is easy to handle but difficult to master. You will need reflexes and concentration to reach the final boss. This brick-breaker ... uh no ... this pixel-breaker offers colorful pixel paintings that will delight the children but not only. You can play it from 7 to 77 years old, everybody has fun with Balls vs. Pixels. LEVELS - 15 colorful levels BONUS - enlarge the paddle - reduce the paddle - triple ball - free ball (extra life) - atomic ball (it blows out everything in its path) - ... GAMECENTER ENEMIES Beware of the enemies who walk on the board and protect the pixels, they can give surprising directions to your ball. ------------------ ALSO AVAILABLE ON MAC APP STORE https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/balls-vs-pixels/id1253964501?l=en&mt=12 ALSO AVAILABLE ON AppleTV ------------------ FOLLOW https://twitter.com/BallsVsPixels https://www.facebook.com/BallsVsPixels DISCOVER http://www.limonval.com/ballsvspixels/ SUPPORT http://www.limonval.com/ballsvspixels/default.asp?Support=1&source=BVSPIOSUK ------------------ Will you reach the final level and defeat the boss? Come on and play!

Screenshots

Join the Dots4 screens
Balls vs. Pixels4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Balls vs. Pixels at 100% against Join the Dots's 40%. Balls vs. Pixels also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 13 months). Join the Dots's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.0) and ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, 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

Both are free to download. Join the Dots sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Balls vs. Pixels sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Join the Dots holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 135 and 60 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 40% of Join the Dots's written reviews are positive against 100% of Balls vs. Pixels's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Join the Dots ships an update every 13 months, Balls vs. Pixels every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Join the Dots versus Balls vs. Pixels: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJoin the DotsBalls vs. Pixels
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (135 ratings) — better4.0 (60 ratings)
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings135 — better60
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV
Requires iOS11.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKedronic UABICI Solutions

Customer experience

Join the Dots

All ratings135 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral4.4%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative40.0%

Balls vs. Pixels

All ratings60 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral3.3%
Negative21.7%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Join the Dots

One-time1
  • Unlock all pages$2.99
2 purchases

Balls vs. Pixels

One-time2
  • 3 Extra Balls$0.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99

Questions

Is Join the Dots free?
Join the Dots is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Balls vs. Pixels free?
Balls vs. Pixels is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Join the Dots or Balls vs. Pixels?
Join the Dots is rated higher. Join the Dots averages 4.7 out of 5 from 135 ratings, while Balls vs. Pixels averages 4.0 from 60 ratings.
Do Join the Dots or Balls vs. Pixels have ads?
Balls vs. Pixels shows ads; Join the Dots does not.
Which is updated more often, Join the Dots or Balls vs. Pixels?
Join the Dots ships an update every 13 months, and Balls vs. Pixels every 6 weeks. Most recently, Join the Dots was updated on October 24, 2026 and Balls vs. Pixels on October 24, 2026.

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