Comparison

Prune vs Hot Takes!

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

Hot Takes!

Decide what deserves the hype and what doesn't in this addictive swipe-based game. Judge movies, music, food, and pop culture with intuitive Tinder-style swiping and receive personalized feedback on your judgment style.

Highlights
  • Tinder-style card swiping
  • Multiple judgment categories
  • Personalized personality feedback
  • Shareable verdict cards
  • Detailed game statistics
  • User content submissions
Features
Read full description

HotTakes is the addictive swipe-based game where you decide what deserves the hype and what doesn't. From movies and music to food and pop culture, nothing is safe from your judgment. How It Works Swipe left if something's overrated. Swipe right if it's underrated. It's that simple. Choose from diverse categories packed with items to judge, make split-second decisions, and discover your true judgment style. Features • Intuitive Tinder-style card swiping • Multiple categories: movies, TV shows, food, celebrities, and more • 200+ unique sarcastic responses tailored to your choices • Dozens of themes to personalize your experience • Detailed stats revealing your judgment patterns • Share your verdicts as shareable cards • Track your game history and see your evolution • Submit your own categories and cards • Advanced stats for subscribers (favorite categories, judgment breakdown, and more) Your Personality Revealed After each game, get brutally honest feedback based on your choices. Are you an optimist who loves everything? A pessimist who finds fault everywhere? Or perfectly balanced like Thanos intended? With over 200 unique comments, you'll get fresh sarcasm every time. Share the Debate Generate beautiful shareable cards of your most controversial takes. Spark debates on social media and see if your friends agree with your hot takes. Premium Features Unlock detailed stats including your most played categories, judgment breakdown, play streaks, and unlimited content submissions. Free get limited submissions, but premium subscribers get unlimited opportunities to shape the game for everyone. Submit Your Ideas Think we're missing a category? Have the perfect item that should be judged? Submit your own content and help build the ultimate opinion-sharing app. Download HotTakes now and let your judgments fly. Find out if you're a harsh critic or an easy fan. Your hot takes await! Privacy Policy: https://www.rspoon3.com/hot-takes/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

Prune4 screens
Hot Takes!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Hot Takes! at Free against Prune's $4.99. Hot Takes! also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks). Prune's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ratings volume (567 vs 4). On review sentiment 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

Hot Takes! is free to download; Prune costs $4.99 up front. Hot Takes! sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Prune asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hot Takes! holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Prune has 567 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 66% and 67% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Prune ships an update every 6 weeks, Hot Takes! every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Prune versus Hot Takes!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPruneHot Takes!
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (567 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.2% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings567 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#66 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS11.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size123 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoel McDonald LLCRichard Witherspoon

Customer experience

Prune

All ratings568 ratings
Positive78.7%
Neutral9.0%
Negative12.3%
Written reviews574 reviews
Positive66.2%
Neutral15.7%
Negative18.1%

Hot Takes!

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

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

Hot Takes!

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Prune

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Hot Takes!

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly Subscription$1.997 Days
  • Yearly Subscription$9.991 Year

Questions

Is Prune free?
Prune costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hot Takes! free?
Hot Takes! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Prune or Hot Takes!?
Hot Takes! is rated higher. Prune averages 4.3 out of 5 from 567 ratings, while Hot Takes! averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Prune or Hot Takes! have ads?
Neither Prune nor Hot Takes! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Prune or Hot Takes!?
Prune ships an update every 6 weeks, and Hot Takes! every 2 weeks. Most recently, Prune was updated on November 6, 2026 and Hot Takes! on November 5, 2026.

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