Beneath The Lighthouse vs Protect The Tree
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Beneath The Lighthouse
Embark on a serene puzzle adventure as a boy searching for his lost Grandpa. Explore mysterious mechanical contraptions beneath a darkened lighthouse and uncover the truth behind its silence. This game offers a free-to-play experience with ads and a lives system, or a premium unlock to remove ads and the lives system.
- Serene puzzle action gameplay
- Explore mysterious mechanical wheels
- Search for a lost Grandpa
- Free-to-play with ads
- Premium unlock option
- Lives system (free version)
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"I stare at the horizon every night before I sleep hoping to catch a glimpse of the lighthouse.The light reminds me of Grandpa and my summer visits playing on the cliffs. That warm life saving beacon not only saves ships, it keeps me safe too. Grandpa’s there just across the water watching over me. But the lighthouse hasn't shone now for days and the fog is thick! What's happened? It's time to visit Grandpa!" Beneath the lighthouse is a serene puzzle action game about a boy in search of his lost Grandpa. Your journey will take you through mysterious mechanical wheels that lay beneath the lighthouse! **Beneath The Lighthouse is optimized for iPhone5, iPad3, iPad mini2 and iPod Touch 5G or Newer. You can try it on older devices, but we can’t guarantee a smooth rolling experience! -This game is free to play or can be unlocked to a premium experience- Free to Play: We use advertising to monetise the experience. There are no coins/gems/booster to pay for or timers. The free version of the game contains a lives system which is carefully balanced to be fair but that makes the game slightly harder than premium. Premium unlock: We offer a single iAP to unlock the game to a premium experience. The premium version contains no 3rd party ads and we remove the lives system. This game contains cross promotion for other Nitrome games and this is not removed with the IAP for removal of ads.
Protect The Tree
Defend the last tree on Earth from waves of enemies in this action-packed strategy game. Build, upgrade, and deploy defensive towers and your own army to repel attackers. Experience deep gameplay with endless replayability and stunning 3D visuals.
- Build and upgrade defense towers
- Control and deploy your own army
- Endless horde of enemies
- 7 specialized, upgradeable weapons
- High Definition 3D design
- Family-friendly gameplay
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Protect the last tree on earth from the hordes of evil wood-hungry enemies in this epic action defence game! Strategically build, upgrade, and place defence towers/weapons to stop the enemies from attacking the last tree on earth. Control your own army. Build, upgrade, and manage your army. Deploy your army at your command. The ultimate tower defence game with amazing depth and replayability. This is the ultimate strategy game combined with epic action and battles for all you strategy and action game lovers! There is no other TD game like this! - Endless horde of enemies that will hook you for hours! - 7 Specialised weapons which can be upgraded multiple times. - Awesome High Definition 3D design! - Build, upgrade, and control your own army! - Family friendly theme so anyone can play. - Unique award winning design! - New weapons, and features added every update! - Optimized for iPhone & iPad. - Unique never before seen tower defence game style! - Top strategy game! - Beautiful minimal art style! - Fun enemies and sounds!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Beneath The Lighthouse at 4.2 against Protect The Tree's 3.6. Protect The Tree's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 4 months). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Beneath The Lighthouse sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Protect The Tree sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Beneath The Lighthouse holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 69 and 73 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 57% and 56% positive.
Beneath The Lighthouse ships an update every 4 months, Protect The Tree every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and August 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Beneath The Lighthouse | Protect The Tree |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (69 ratings) — better | 3.6 (73 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.8% of reviews — better | 56.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 69 | 73 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 7.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 205 MB | 73 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Nitrome | MoonBear LTD |
Customer experience
Beneath The Lighthouse
Protect The Tree
User reviews
Beneath The Lighthouse
From 69 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth gameplay
- 👍 Beautiful graphics
- 🎨 Unique and creative concept
- ⏱️ Satisfying to complete levels
- 🎵 Great soundtrack
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes on some devices
- 💸 Intrusive ads
- 🕹️ Challenging controls
- 🔁 Repetitive gameplay
- 🕰️ Levels can be frustratingly difficult
Protect The Tree
From 73 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Clean, simple, and attractive pixel graphics
- 🎮 Addictive tower defense gameplay mechanics
- 🔇 No intrusive ads or advertisements
- 💰 Free-to-play without mandatory payments
- 📱 Works offline without internet connection
Room to improve
- 🐛 Game crashes and freezes at higher levels (50+)
- 💸 Pay-to-win mechanics after certain progression points
- 🗺️ Only 3 maps available, lacks variety
- ⚙️ Poor game balance and difficulty scaling
- 🔧 Minimal updates and developer support
Bugs and requests
Beneath The Lighthouse
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to skip intro
- Screen rotation issues
- Crashes after completing levels
- Glitches with character model
Requested features
5 requests- More levels
- Ability to listen to own music
- Difficulty settings
- Checkpoint system
- Improved performance on older devices
Protect The Tree
Reported bugs
16 issues- Game gets stuck at specific levels (48-57 range) with no progression button
- Last enemy in wave moves extremely slowly or doesn't appear
- Towers disappear when exiting and re-entering game
- Freeze ray towers don't work consistently on certain enemies
- Flamethrower deals no damage or minimal damage
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- Game crashes when too many towers are placed
- Coins not awarded from super turret hits after certain rounds
- Pause button doesn't pause all game elements (enemies continue moving)
- Air perks don't take effect on certain maps
- Enemy health bars missing for air units
- Restore purchases functionality broken
- Game incompatible with newer phone screen sizes
- Severe lag and frame rate drops on iPhone 5s and older devices
- Incorrect statistics displayed on failure screen (kills always show 0)
- Best score/progress not saved between sessions
- Graphics broken on iPad displays
Requested features
16 requests- More maps and levels
- Additional tower types and weapons
- Tower upgrade system with meaningful progression
- Ability to sell/refund towers for partial cost recovery
- Save game functionality between sessions
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- Difficulty settings (casual and veteran modes)
- Fast-forward or speed-up button
- Tutorial for new players
- Map editor or custom level creation
- Sandbox/practice mode for strategy testing
- Better tower stat information before purchase
- Zoom and rotation controls for maps
- More enemy variety and boss encounters
- Tree health upgrades purchasable with coins
- Leaderboard and ranking system
- Pause functionality that actually pauses all elements
In-app purchases
Beneath The Lighthouse
- Premium Unlock$3.99
Protect The Tree
- 100 Gems$0.99
- Premium$1.99
- 500 Gems$3.99
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- 2000 Gems$7.99
- 5000 Gems$12.99
- 25,000 Gems$35.99
Questions
Is Beneath The Lighthouse free?
Is Protect The Tree free?
Which has better reviews, Beneath The Lighthouse or Protect The Tree?
Do Beneath The Lighthouse or Protect The Tree have ads?
Which is updated more often, Beneath The Lighthouse or Protect The Tree?
Other comparisons
