Comparison

Prune vs Dissembler

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

Head to head
About

Prune

Cultivate a digital tree in a hostile world by guiding its growth towards sunlight. Uncover a hidden story and bring life to a forgotten landscape with this meditative and beautiful game.

Highlights
  • Grow and shape trees
  • Minimalist art and interface
  • Meditative music and sound
  • No in-app purchases or monetization
  • Share tree creations
  • iCloud progress synchronization
Features
Read full description

~ Apple Game of the Year 2015 ~ ~ TIME Magazine Game of the Year 2015 ~ Prune is a love letter to trees. A game about the beauty and joy of cultivation. With a swipe of a finger, grow and shape your tree into the sunlight while avoiding the dangers of a hostile world. Bring life to a forgotten landscape and uncover a story hidden deep beneath the soil. • A unique digital plant for your pocket • Beautiful, minimalist art and a super clean interface—it's just you and the trees • Meditative music and sound design for you to zen out to • No IAP, no monetization strategy, no currencies • Share screenshots of your unique tree creations with friends • Synchronize progress across all your devices using iCloud ----- RECEPTION ----- "Unlike anything I've played before... the kind of experience I want to pull out to show my friends." - The Verge "Wildly creative, totally addictive, and oddly soothing" - Entertainment Weekly "Prune is a gorgeous and unique experience." - 5/5 TouchArcade "Prune is an awe-inspiring work of digital poetry that transcends its initial subject material to explore a much larger, much more complex theme, in an articulate and powerfully moving manner" - 10/10 Pocket Gamer "A collaboration that feels more like a dance than puzzle-solving." - Kill Screen ----- AWARDS ----- • Winner - Best Upcoming Game - 11th International Mobile Gaming Awards • Finalist - IndieCade Festival 2015 • Official Selection - Brazil's FILE Festival • Runner-Up - IndiePlus "Make Something Great" Contest • Official Selection - Out of Index Experimental Games Festival

About

Dissembler

A minimalist puzzle game where you flip tiles to match colors and make them disappear. The goal is to clear the entire board, requiring careful planning and abstract thinking. Enjoy handcrafted puzzles with a relaxing soundtrack and daily challenges.

Highlights
  • Tile-flipping color matching
  • Hand-crafted abstract puzzles
  • Relaxing minimalist design
  • Original soundtrack
  • Daily puzzles with solutions
  • Infinite mode with leaderboards
  • Color-blind mode
Features
Read full description

Dissembler is a subtle puzzle game about unraveling playful, abstract artworks one color at a time. Winner of the Excellence in Design award at Freeplay 2018. “If you’re a puzzle fan, I can’t stress it enough — you need to play this game.” — AppUnwrapper “Dissembler is one of those puzzle games that just feels good to play around with, but it backs that simple joy with a solid spate of puzzles and gameplay modes.” — Shaun Musgrave, Touch Arcade About the game: Flip pairs of tiles to make matching color groups vanish, but that's where the resemblance to a standard match-three ends. In Dissembler no tiles will drop in to replace the ones you’ve matched: your task is to remove all tiles and leave behind a clean slate. The experience starts simply, leading you gently from basic principles to more complex puzzles, but before long it will require careful planning and lateral thinking. ■ Beautifully-presented minimalist puzzle game with chilled original soundtrack ■ Every one of the 171 puzzles is a hand-made work of art with no randomness ■ Experiment freely – undo any number of moves at any time without any penalty ■ Buy once and enjoy forever – no in-app purchases! ■ Free daily puzzles, plus step-by-step solutions revealed the next day ■ Infinite mode offers an endless play mode with Game Center leaderboard ■ Color-blind mode makes Dissembler accessible to more players

Screenshots

Prune4 screens
Dissembler4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Dissembler at 4.8 against Prune's 4.3. Dissembler also leads on review sentiment (91% vs 66%) and price ($2.99 vs $4.99). On ratings volume, 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

Prune costs $4.99 and Dissembler $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dissembler holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 568 and 1.5K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 66% of Prune's written reviews are positive against 91% of Dissembler's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Prune ships an update every 6 weeks, Dissembler every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Prune versus Dissembler: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPruneDissembler
Price$4.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.3 (568 ratings)4.8 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.1% of reviews91.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5681.5K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#49 — better#55
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.011.0
Further details — not scored
Size123 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoel McDonald LLCShape Shop Pty Ltd atf Shape Shop Trust

Customer experience

Prune

All ratings568 ratings
Positive78.7%
Neutral9.0%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews573 reviews
Positive66.1%
Neutral15.7%
Negative18.2%

Dissembler

All ratings1,464 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral2.1%
Negative0.8%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive91.2%
Neutral6.6%
Negative2.2%

User reviews

Prune

From 568 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌳 Beautiful, elegant design
  • 🕹️ Relaxing, meditative gameplay
  • 🎶 Calming, atmospheric soundtrack
  • 🌟 Unique, artistic experience
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive controls

Room to improve

  • ⏱️ Levels can feel too time-sensitive
  • 🤔 Unclear objectives and mechanics
  • 🕰️ Game is too short for the price
  • 🐛 Performance issues on older devices

Dissembler

From 1.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤯 Mind blowing
  • 👍 Sophisticated and intellectual
  • 🎮 Great fun
  • 🎨 Cute and simple
  • 🧠 Challenging but satisfying

Room to improve

  • 🤔 Infinite mode lacks strategy
  • 🤯 Puzzles can be very difficult
  • 💤 Monotonous gameplay
  • 🔍 Lack of hints or guidance

Bugs and requests

Prune

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Progress reset after updates
  • Unresponsive controls at times

Requested features

4 requests
  • More levels and content updates
  • Zen mode with no time constraints
  • Level editor and sharing capabilities
  • Improved tutorials and explanations

Dissembler

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Audio issues
  • Screen rotation problems

Requested features

4 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Haptic feedback for tile clicks
  • Challenge mode with move limits
  • Randomly generated puzzles

In-app purchases

None

Prune

No in-app purchases

None

Dissembler

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Prune free?
Prune costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dissembler free?
Dissembler costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Prune or Dissembler?
Dissembler is rated higher. Prune averages 4.3 out of 5 from 568 ratings, while Dissembler averages 4.8 from 1.5K ratings.
Do Prune or Dissembler have ads?
Neither Prune nor Dissembler shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Prune or Dissembler?
Prune ships an update every 6 weeks, and Dissembler every 2 months. Most recently, Prune was updated on September 27, 2026 and Dissembler on September 25, 2026.
Which is more popular, Prune or Dissembler?
Prune currently peaks at #49 in the App Store charts, and Dissembler at #55. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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