Comparison

Orbit vs Whittler

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

Head to head
About

Orbit

This app is a meditative physics puzzler where you launch planets to create stable orbits around black holes. Explore a variety of levels, create your own challenges in a sandbox mode, and enjoy a visually artistic and relaxing experience.

Highlights
  • Gravity simulation puzzles
  • Create stable orbits
  • Sandbox mode for level creation
  • Community-created levels
  • Visual orbital mechanics
  • Minimalist graphics and relaxing music
Features
Read full description

ORBIT is a gravity simulator at the heart of a puzzle game. Launch planets with a flick of your finger, and try to get them into stable orbits around black holes. Can you make enough orbits to progress to the next level? New: ORBIT now features a Sandbox (paid) where you can create your own levels! Control time, disable collisions, and paint with gravity. Publish your creations to the world for everyone to play. • 45 free levels, with new mechanics are introduced over time — like repulsive black holes and planets with their own gravity that attract each other • Play community-created levels — virtually limitless content made by other players, all completely free • Launch as many planets as you like, and watch the mesmerizing orbital mechanics unfold • Planets leave colored traces, so that at the end of a level you will have created a beautiful piece of art • See the future trajectory of a planet before you launch it • Play in an environment of smooth, minimalist graphics while listening to relaxing classical piano Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/highkeygames Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/highkeygames

About

Whittler

Engage in a relaxing whittling experience, transforming blunt sticks into sharp points with your knife. Swipe to spin the stick and control the knife's movement to carve precise shapes. Earn points for well-crafted points and unlock new knives with varying sharpness.

Highlights
  • Spin stick by swiping
  • Control knife with swipes
  • Carve multicolored sticks
  • Earn points for sharp points
  • Unlock new knives
  • Optional guidelines for precision
Features
Read full description

Enjoy the soothing sensation of whittling a blunt stick into a beautiful point in Whittler! Carve up multicolored sticks with your knife! Make your points even pointier! HOW TO PLAY: You have a knife and a stick. Spin the stick by swiping left and right. Control the knife by swiping up and down. Swiping up will cause the knife to cut into the stick. To finish a cut, swipe to the top of the stick. To cancel a cut, swipe down out of the cut area. HOW TO EARN POINTS: Whittle a pointy enough stick, and you'll be able to earn a point. The ideal point is centered and pretty steep, but some variation is acceptable. To assist in point creation, guidelines can be turned on with the second button on the right in the Options menu. Whittle until you can spin your stick without it covering those lines, and the Reset button will turn to a Green Checkmark. When this happens, your point is ready to go. Hold down the Green Checkmark and you'll get a fresh stick and 1 point added to your score. HOW TO UNLOCK KNIVES: Though all the knives function in essentially the same manner, they vary in sharpness, and this results in slightly different handling. To begin experiencing this slight variation, you'll have to earn some points. When the number of points earned is greater than or equal to the number on the lock next to the knife you want, hold down the lock to unlock the knife. This will not cost you any points, but the next unlock will require you to earn more. Whittle on!

Screenshots

Orbit4 screens
Whittler4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Whittler at none against Orbit's shown. Whittler also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). Orbit's advantage is ratings volume (7.6K vs 9). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Orbit sells 7 one-off in-app purchases and Whittler 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Orbit against 4.9 for Whittler. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Orbit has 7.6K ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 94% of Orbit's written reviews are positive against 100% of Whittler's.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Orbit versus Whittler: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOrbitWhittler
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (7.6K ratings)4.9 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews94.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7.6K — better9
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size137 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHIGHKEY GamesStufco

Customer experience

Orbit

All ratings7,603 ratings
Positive97.0%
Neutral1.0%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews626 reviews
Positive94.4%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.0%

Whittler

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Orbit

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • In app purchase not received
  • Sandbox mode not working
  • Game crashing and unable to open

Requested features

6 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to zoom in and out
  • Ability to rotate the game to landscape on iPad
  • Ability to edit and move existing objects in sandbox mode
  • Ability to name planets and add moons
Show 1 more
  • More levels and game modes

Whittler

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Orbit

One-time7
  • $1 contribution$0.99
  • Remove ads$0.99
  • $2 contribution$1.99
Show 4 more
  • $3 contribution$2.99
  • Orbit Pro$2.99
  • $5 contribution$4.99
  • $10 contribution$9.99
1 purchases

Whittler

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$0.99

Questions

Is Orbit free?
Orbit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Whittler free?
Whittler is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Orbit or Whittler?
Whittler is rated higher. Orbit averages 4.8 out of 5 from 7.6K ratings, while Whittler averages 4.9 from 9 ratings.
Do Orbit or Whittler have ads?
Orbit shows ads; Whittler does not.

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