Comparison

Join the Dots vs Splashy Dots

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

Splashy Dots

This app offers a unique puzzle experience with strategic dot-connecting gameplay. Enjoy thousands of brain-teasing levels with a distinctive art style and relaxing jazz music. Designed for Apple devices, it features haptic feedback and iCloud syncing.

Highlights
  • Unique dot-connecting mechanics
  • Thousands of brain-teasing puzzles
  • Splashy and juicy graphics
  • Relaxing chillout jazz music
  • Haptic feedback and force touch support
  • iCloud progress syncing
  • Full undo support
Features
Read full description

Imagine yourself in a cozy art gallery, with the sounds of a live jazz act in the background, a brush in your hand and a canvas in front of you. You’re all set. You have a perfect opportunity to create some unique splatter art paintings. Now you can do all of this on your mobile device! ======= ORIGINAL GAMEPLAY Splashy Dots has one of its kind mechanics that can't be found in any other game. If you like games such as chess, Sudoku, Go or Rubik's cube you will be amazed by how much this game has to offer beyond the art style. LOTS OF CONTENT Thousands of brain-teasing puzzles. You can choose colors and difficulty up to your preferences. DESIGNED FOR APPLE DEVICES Designed specifically for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and iMessage. Works with haptic feedback and force touch on iPhone 7, which allows you to feel the splashes in your hand. UNIQUE ART STYLE Splashy and juicy graphics with lots of colorful themes. Each level ends up as a painting for you to collect. EASY TO PLAY, HARD TO MASTER Full undo support so you can experiment freely with multiple paths. Hints to help you when you get really stuck. Easy to learn rules with surprising complexity as levels get harder. MUSIC Chillout Jazz music playing in the background with procedurally generated tunes that are different at every level. iCloud Progress is saved in the cloud so you can play on multiple devices at once. ======= DESCRIPTION: The game is visually driven but the core of the gameplay is focused on strategic thinking. Your goal is to connect all the dots. Sounds familiar? Nothing could be further from the truth. Splashy Dots has one of its kind mechanics that can't be found in any other game. If you like games such as chess, Sudoku, Go or Rubik's cube you will be amazed by how much this game has to offer beyond the colorful art style. You move the dot with swipes so in order to play this game you need a single hand and an open-minded brain. Your dot moves on a visually appealing grid that lets you easily understand the in-game physics. You can move horizontally or vertically within this grid. There are only splashes and paint streaks. Whenever you swipe you create both - a streak and a splash. The in-game music is relaxing and your moves are accompanied by calming sound effects. At the beginning the game is easy, but it gets more brain-challenging with each level you complete. It's easy to finish initial levels which contain only a few dots but you need to learn how to test your strategies in order to finish levels with a dozen of them. You need your combined experiences to progress in the game. There's always at least a single possible solution but usually, the first move is the most important one. It can immediately help you solve the puzzle or break the odds of winning. The world of Splashy Dots is full of colors. Gameplay will make you excited. It's addictive and challenging. Whenever you get stuck you don't need to stop - there's a hint that you may want to use. There's no such thing as a score so you don’t need to hurry. Take your time, be patient. Test your skills and try to solve one of the most creative modern puzzlers. If you own AppleTV you need to know that the Splashy Dots TV version was not only specially designed for TV, but the game will be synchronized across all your devices, whether it's iPod, iPhone or AppleTV. Not convinced yet? If you play on AppleTV you will get daily free hints! Yup, that's it. You only need to download the game on your AppleTV in order to receive free hints on iPhone. Enjoy! ----------------------------- FOLLOW https://www.facebook.com/crimsonpine https://twitter.com/crimsonpine DISCOVER http://www.crimsonpine.com/ SUPPORT Are you having problems? Contact our team and we will do our best to help you! http://www.crimsonpine.com/#section-contact

Screenshots

Join the Dots4 screens
Splashy Dots4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Join the Dots at 4.7 against Splashy Dots's 4.1. Join the Dots also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Splashy Dots's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 13 months) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 11.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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 Splashy Dots sells 11 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 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 135 and 200 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Join the Dots's written reviews are positive against 35% of Splashy Dots's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Join the Dots ships an update every 13 months, Splashy Dots every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and August 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Join the Dots versus Splashy Dots: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJoin the DotsSplashy Dots
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (135 ratings) — better4.1 (200 ratings)
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews — better34.8% of reviews
Number of ratings135200 — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV
Requires iOS11.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB177 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKedronic UABCrimson Pine Games

Customer experience

Join the Dots

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

Splashy Dots

All ratings200 ratings
Positive73.5%
Neutral10.5%
Negative16.0%
Written reviews267 reviews
Positive34.8%
Neutral13.5%
Negative51.7%

Bugs and requests

Join the Dots

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Splashy Dots

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App opening App Store unexpectedly
  • Volume issues and audio problems
  • Inconsistent gameplay and level completion tracking

Requested features

4 requests
  • More level variety and difficulty progression
  • Option to purchase ad-free version
  • Custom level creation and sharing
  • Improved background music and sound effects

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Join the Dots

One-time1
  • Unlock all pages$2.99
11 purchases

Splashy Dots

One-time11
  • Small Hint Pack$0.99
  • Small Brush Pack$0.99
  • Medium Hint Pack$2.99
Show 8 more
  • One Free Hint In Each Level$2.99
  • Large Hint Pack$5.99
  • Coral Reef Pack$9.99
  • Sweets Pack$9.99
  • Huge Hint Pack$9.99
  • Hues Pack$9.99
  • Unlimited Hints$19.99
  • Unlimited Brushes$19.99

Questions

Is Join the Dots free?
Join the Dots is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Splashy Dots free?
Splashy Dots is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Join the Dots or Splashy Dots?
Join the Dots is rated higher. Join the Dots averages 4.7 out of 5 from 135 ratings, while Splashy Dots averages 4.1 from 200 ratings.
Do Join the Dots or Splashy Dots have ads?
Neither Join the Dots nor Splashy Dots shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Join the Dots or Splashy Dots?
Join the Dots ships an update every 13 months, and Splashy Dots every 3 weeks. Most recently, Join the Dots was updated on September 17, 2026 and Splashy Dots on August 17, 2026.

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