Differences Find & Spot Them is a mobile game based around comparing pictures. The game presents you with two very similar versions of a picture and asks you to find all of the differences between the two images. It's a fun, relaxing puzzle game that's totally free!

The game "Differences" by Easybrain is available on multiple app stores with slightly different subtitles. In the Apple store, it's listed as Differences - Find & Spot them. In the Android store, it's listed as Differences: find a difference. Both of these games are functionally identical, other than a few optimizations to make them run better on each operating system.

In the game Differences, you're presented with a simple task. The game gives you two near-identical pictures. Your goal is to pinch, zoom, and pan the images and figure out where the two pictures differ. The game displays the pictures side by side and moves them at the same time, making it easy to compare. 

A cartoonish, stylized interface tracks your progress through each image. The UI tells you how many differences there are and offers a helpful hint button if you find yourself stuck. As you find the places where the images vary, you simply tap to tell the game that there's a difference and it quickly circles the area and marks off one of the unsolved mystery boxes in the user interface.

Differences has a big library of images that it pulls from to generate its puzzles. The difficulty of these images varies quite a lot. Some are very easy to spot all 5 differences in, while others might take you several minutes and entice you to use the hint button. This is totally normal. In fact, people often have trouble with completely different types of images, as everyone's vision, life experience, and brain wiring are different.

One of the best things about Differences is the level of polish in the UI, the controls, and the image selection. It's clear that the art team spent a lot of time putting together a game that's warm, welcoming, and wholesome. Images tend to be colorful and vibrant, from tropical vacations to cartoons of relaxing environments. Overall, the presentation and packaging are excellent.

Differences is free, but it's supported by ads. Not only is there a pesky ad at the bottom of the screen the whole time you're playing, but you also have to stop and watch a more intrusive advertisement in between levels. This allows the game's developers to make money, but it also ruins the relaxing, immersive puzzle experience. If you're looking for a way to really unwind after work, the advertisements might ruin this game for you.

The actual gameplay of Differences is incredibly simple. Your goal is to spot the differences. This sort of puzzle has been quite popular in magazines, children's books, and puzzle books for decades, if not longer. Bringing the game to an interactive screen has a number of advantages, including the ability to queue up a nearly limitless number of images, the ability to provide instant feedback on player guesses, and the ability to zoom and scroll two images in tandem. It's a fun game that lets you experience a classic type of puzzle in a totally new way.

The controls for Differences are very simple. Pinch, zoom, and scroll your way around the two pictures until you find an area that's not the same in both pictures. Once you've done this, tap the screen in the corresponding location and see if your assessment is correct.

For most people, the tricky part will be finding the last difference (or two) between tricky sets of images. Most people can get the first two or three or even four spots almost immediately, while the last one takes a while to find. This is totally normal. It's like looking for a set of lost car keys - they're always in the last place you look. Whichever difference is the least obvious to you and your eyes will be the one that you find last.

As far as finding the last couple of spots, there are a few techniques that can help a lot. First, make sure you zoom in and scroll around the image, then zoom out, then repeat. It's usually easier to spot differences when the images are in motion. Zooming in will give you a better look at small details while zooming out will help you find the correct perspective to spot alterations to the image. The differences in Differences tend to be quite big, so you'll definitely have to spend a lot of time zoomed out to have the right framing so that you can spot them quickly.

One thing that helps a lot of people is to mentally name parts of the image. Find an object in the top frame, describe it in your head, and then find that same object in the bottom frame. You don't have to be super precise here: "blue hat" is totally fine. The action of identifying, describing, and checking each item in the image will help ensure you don't miss anything and that you remember each thing as you compare it. You'd be surprised how easy it is to gloss over a big difference many times if you're not using this technique.

If you find yourself really stuck, the absolute best thing to do is to get up and walk away for a little bit. Get a snack, fetch a beverage, or otherwise distract yourself. When you come back to the pictures, you'll find a totally new way of looking at them that will help the differences pop right out. Best of all, taking a break like this will lower your stress level and give you an even better mindset for solving difficult puzzles.

Differences is a great game to enjoy over your morning coffee or right before you go to bed. Over a few weeks or months of regular play, you'll really get a lot out of the purchase, as you'll avoid countless minutes of watching advertisements.

Are you a big fan of Differences? What kind of pictures do you find the hardest? Let us know what level you're on in the comments below! We'd love to hear your best tips and methods for spotting the differences between the two pictures.