Sortabout

a scoreless game of gentle sorting

Arrange a shelf of books — by colour, author, title, height or Dewey number. When it looks right to you, you're done.
That's the whole game.

Get your shelf in order.

Download on theApp Store US $0.99, once.
No ads, no subscriptions — forever.
Every future update is included
A finished Sortabout shelf: four rows of book spines arranged into a smooth rainbow, from warm reds through greens to deep blues.

How it feels

There is no goal. That's the gift.

Sortabout was made for people who are a little too online: soft haptics, gentle sound, a guaranteed end. When you finish a shelf the game helps you put the phone down.

Every shelf is a pause, not a test. The "finished" button always works, because you cannot fail.

Step away from the scroll.

no levels no scores no timers no streaks no judgement

Every round, a different beautiful shelf

Sort by colour. Sort by names and numbers.

Classic Rainbow, Pastel Picnic, Cyberpunk Night — or open the Colour Lab and design your own palette. Prefer words? Author A–Z, Title A–Z, or the Dewey Decimal System, if that's your idea of a good shelf. It is someone's. Maybe yours.

Sortabout's opening screen: the gold serif title and a Begin Sorting button on a dusk-dark background.
welcome to the shelves
The Colour Lab: a base colour slider with harmony and tone options.
the Colour Lab
Start with a bucket of unsorted books and arrange them on the shelf.
click and drag from the unsorted bucket onto the shelves
Start with a bucket of unsorted books and arrange them on the shelf.
rush or linger, there's no wrong answer
Start with a bucket of unsorted books and arrange them on the shelf.
you'll know when you're done
keep going until you are happy.
sort your own order, no rules, no judgement
A shelf mid-sort, spines forming a rainbow in the dusk atmosphere.
sort by colour
A Fiction shelf sorted author A–Z in neon magenta, pink and blue on a dark background.
express yourshelf
A rainbow shelf sorted title A–Z, every spine the same height, in a light room.
choose your atmosphere
A monochrome mint-green shelf on a dark background.
sort by height
A rainbow shelf in muted colours.
choose from four colour shades including jewel and muted
A shelf of lemon-coloured books
your mood, your choice
Finish scree
you choose when you're done. just tap the tick.

Share a shelf

Every shelf says something about you.

With literally thousands of variations possible, every game is a "shelf-portrait".

Do you build rainbows? Alphabetise ruthlessly? Cluster the gothic novels and let the poetry drift? When a shelf feels finished, keep it — or share it as a picture. Your ideal shelf is a small way of sharing something: swap them with friends, post yours, put one on your dating profile. Compare notes on what "in order" means to you.

A kept Gothic shelf in the Pastel Picnic palette, pink spines at varied heights, ready to share as an image.

The library

464 real books, worth arranging.

Every spine is a genuine public-domain book, chosen with care and full of titles worth reading. Sort the whole mixed library, or pick a collection:

Mixed Adventure Fiction Gothic Natural World Odysseys Philosophy Poetry Whimsy

Make it yours

Five reading-room atmospheres from dusk to dawn. Vary the book heights, colour space, harmony and tones. Click through to read more about the books on your shelf.

Quiet by design

Soft haptics mix politely under your own music podcast or virtual team meeting.

Nothing collected, ever

No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no internet. Your shelves live on your device and nowhere else. Read the whole privacy policy — it's four sentences.

In-game lightbox for Alice in Wonderland
tap a book to learn more
Website for Alice in Wonderland
find a world of literature
Wizard of Oz lightbox
at your fingertips
Wizard of Oz website page
free to read

Sort your shelf out.
Then put your phone down.

Available on the App Store for iPhone. One small price, yours forever.

Download on theApp Store