Burst: a free (no ads) bubble shooter game for iPhone

June 20, 2026

After CalAction I wanted to experiment a bit with SpriteKit and try to make a small game for iPhone. I don't usually play any games on my iPhone myself, because most are overrun with garbage like ads and loot boxes.

With Burst I wanted to do things differently. The bubble shooter genre (if you can call it that) has a lot of games in the App Store currently, but again most are either overrun with ads and scammy in-app purchases, or they haven't been maintained in many years.

Burst has zero ads, doesn't track you in any way, and certainly doesn't have any in-app purchases. I nice alternative to doomscrolling and apps that try to sell you something at every turn.

There's a couple of features and things included:

  • Power-ups: bomb, lightning and rainbow power-ups earned by chaining together combos
  • Six coding-inspired themes like Catppuccin, Dracula and Gruvbox
  • Game Center integration for leaderboards and iCloud sync to keep your high score secure
  • Boast about your high score with an image you can share in your messaging app or on social media
  • Accessibility features like colorblind mode, VoiceOver, reduce motion and dynamic type
  • Again, it's completely free to play, I'm never going to sell you something here

Burst is now live on the App Store.

Give it a try, I'd love to hear your feedback.