By Voodoo
Report updated May 4, 2026
Dig This 2 is an established puzzle app that is free with in-app purchases. With a 4.6/5 rating from 16K reviews, it shows polarized user reception. Users particularly appreciate physics-based puzzle mechanics provide a challenging and addictive experience for casual players, though excessive ad frequency disrupts the core gameplay loop and frustrates active users remains a common concern.
What is Dig This 2?
Dig This 2 is a physics-based puzzle game for iOS and Android where users create paths in sand to guide balls into cups.
Users hire the game for short, logic-based sessions that provide immediate tactile satisfaction, but the current monetization and update cadence fail to sustain long-term engagement.
Current Momentum
v1.0 · 4mo ago
Maintenance- Ships only performance and bug fixes
- No new content releases in 2025
Active Nemesis
Fun Sand Balls Puzzle Games 3D
By Muhammad Faisal
Other Rivals
Rating Pulse 🇺🇸
Recent User MoodAI-powered deep analysis surfacing high-signal insights. Still in beta, accuracy improves daily. For informational purposes only.
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
How Is The App's Momentum Right Now?
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What Are The Key Features?
Users draw paths in sand to guide a ball into a cup using touch input
Environmental mechanics that alter ball trajectory and path accessibility
Provides visual guides for completing levels when the user is stuck
How much does it cost?
- Free to play with ad support
- In-app purchases available
Freemium model relies on ad-supported gameplay and in-app purchases to monetize a 1,000,000+ install base.
Who Built It?
Voodoo
Providing casual gamers with instant, satisfying entertainment through high-velocity, physics-based arcade and puzzle experiences.
Portfolio
13
Apps
Who is Voodoo?
Voodoo operates as a high-volume publishing platform that prioritizes rapid prototyping and data-driven scaling over traditional long-form development cycles. Their structural advantage lies in a massive cross-promotion network and a standardized publishing pipeline that allows them to dominate hyper-casual charts through algorithmic testing and sheer volume. A key strategic signal is their recent diversification into social platforms and premium subscription services, moving beyond a pure ad-revenue model to stabilize long-term retention.
Who is Voodoo for?
- Casual mobile users seeking short-burst
- Low-friction entertainment with high visual feedback
- Simple one-touch mechanics
Portfolio momentum
Maintaining an extremely high-frequency cadence with 742 releases in the last 6 months and over 93% of the portfolio currently active.
What other apps does Voodoo make?
What do users think recently?
High confidence · Latest 100 of 121 total reviews analyzed · Based on 121 reviews. Signal may be noisy.
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a mixed sentiment. Users appreciate physics-based puzzle mechanics provide a challenging and addictive experience for casual players and one-time purchase option for ad removal significantly improves the overall user experience, but report excessive ad frequency disrupts the core gameplay loop and frustrates active users and lack of consistent content updates leaves long-term players waiting months for new levels.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What Users Want
What is the competitive landscape for Dig This 2?
How's The Puzzle Market?
How does it evolve in the Puzzle market?
Dig This 2 maintains a high rating of 4.46 on Android and 4.67 on iOS, but the lack of content updates since the 2022 release date signals a shift toward maintenance-mode status.
| Country | Category | Chart | Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | Puzzle | AndroidGrossing | #135 | NEW |
| 🇰🇼 Kuwait | Puzzle | AndroidGrossing | #158 | NEW |
The rivals identified
The Nemesis
Fun Sand Balls Puzzle Games 3D
0Muhammad Faisal
💀The definitive rival in the sand-digging sub-genre, maintaining the core mechanic of carving paths through terrain to guide physics-based objects.
Head to Head
To close the gap, Dig This 2 should prioritize a meta-game layer (e.g., collection or construction) to increase session depth, as current gameplay is technically superior but lacks the long-term retention loops of the nemesis.
What sets Dig This 2 apart
3D environment offers a more tactile and modern visual experience compared to the flat 2D aesthetic of Sand Balls
Physics engine provides a more realistic 'sand' simulation that feels less scripted than the competitor's terrain
What's Sand Balls - Puzzle Game's Edge
Deep meta-game progression (city-building) provides significantly higher long-term retention hooks
Massive content volume and frequent level updates keep the user base engaged for longer sessions
Contenders
Focuses on drawing lines to support or guide objects rather than digging
Minimalist 2D aesthetic compared to the 3D environment of Dig This 2
Peers
Mechanic revolves around sequence-based pin pulling rather than path creation
Heavier focus on color-mixing logic and obstacle avoidance
Uses fluid dynamics (water, steam, poison) instead of solid balls
Stronger narrative elements and recognizable IP characters
割绳子 (Cut the Rope)
ZeptoLab UK Limited
A classic physics puzzle peer that competes for the same 'short-session logic challenge' user base.
Timing-based rope cutting mechanics
Highly charismatic protagonist (Om Nom) driving long-term brand loyalty
The outtake for Dig This 2
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Tactile physics engine provides a more realistic sand simulation than competitors
- 3D environment offers a more modern visual experience than 2D rivals
Critical Frictions
- Excessive ad frequency after every level completion
- Stagnant content pipeline with months between level releases
- Technical bugs causing loss of purchased items
Growth Levers
- Implement a meta-game layer like collection or construction to increase session depth
- Introduce optional ad-watching for hints to reduce real-money friction
Market Threats
- Sand Balls' meta-game progression (city-building) siphons long-term users
- Lack of updates causes players to perceive the game as abandoned
What are the next best moves?
Ship a consistent monthly content update cadence because the lack of levels is the #1 churn driver → increase long-term retention.
Sentiment analysis identifies the lack of consistent content updates as a high-frequency complaint.
Trade-off: Pause new feature development for the core physics engine — content volume is the higher priority for retention.
Pivot the ad-monetization strategy to include optional ad-watching for hints because forced ads after every level disrupt the gameplay loop → improve sentiment.
Users report being forced to watch advertisements after every single level completion, causing high frustration.
Trade-off: Reduce immediate ad-impression revenue in exchange for higher daily active user retention.
A counter-intuitive read
The game's high rating is a deceptive metric because it masks the churn of long-term players who have exhausted the content, meaning the current user base is skewed toward new, transient players.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Meta-game progression (available in Sand Balls but missing here)
- Extensive level library (available in Sand Balls but missing here)
Key Takeaways
Dig This 2 holds its audience through satisfying physics, but the aggressive ad-monetization and lack of content updates drive churn, so the PM should prioritize a predictable level-release schedule to stabilize the player base.
Where Is It Heading?
Declining
The casual puzzle market is consolidating around titles with deep meta-game loops, leaving Dig This 2 exposed due to its stagnant content pipeline. Unless the team shifts from maintenance to a consistent release cadence, the game will continue to lose market share to rivals that offer higher long-term engagement.
The lack of content updates since the initial release causes players to perceive the game as abandoned, which accelerates churn among long-term users.
Aggressive ad frequency after every level completion disrupts the core gameplay loop, leading to negative sentiment and reduced session depth for active players.