Comparison

Monomals vs Hot Lava

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Monomals

Embark on a musical adventure by fishing for unique creatures that help you compose original music. Explore vibrant underwater worlds, battle rivals, and share your creations with a global community.

Highlights
  • Catch unique Monomals
  • Compose music in MonoMaker
  • Explore 28 oceanic courses
  • Compete in music charts
  • Share music creations online
  • Console-quality graphics
Features
Read full description

There's a big music contest going on amongst the world's best animal DJs! Armed with a big fishing rod and a plug, go fishing in deep waters to help the DJs catch all of the Monomals™, and create your very own music in the MonoMaker™! CATCH • Choose your favourite animal DJ: Retro Rabbit, Funky Frog, Techno Tiger, Rocky Rhino or MC Scratch • Explore 28 beautiful oceanic courses full of hazards and challenges • Prepare for Arena Battles and catch tons of Monomals • Discover dozens of collectibles and power-ups • Incredible console-quality graphics COMPOSE • Use the Monomals in the MonoMaker to create your own music • Listen to your own music in your self-created playlist during your fishing adventures • Switch instantly between music genres and listen to different styles of your music • Create and use Monomal stamps for instant results! • Literally unlimited hours of music making! COMPETE • Compete in the offline Hot 99 chart and go platinum! • Rate or be rated - share your music creations online for others to download! • Join weekly online contests and become the best musician! -------- The following applies when you make and share your music to the online charts: • Please be respectful of the copyright of others and do not make and share songs that violate another party's copyright. We may remove songs if we believe they violate copyrights. • Please know that there is a possibility that we will use your song to promote Monomals on our social media channels.

About

Hot Lava

Experience the thrill of childhood imagination in this first-person adventure game. Run, jump, and climb through nostalgic environments, avoiding molten lava and other hazards. Play solo or with friends in a game of skill and ingenuity.

Highlights
  • First-person parkour gameplay
  • Nostalgic environments
  • Multiplayer with friends
  • Leaderboards for speedruns
  • Obstacle avoidance challenges
Features
Read full description

Hot Lava transports you back to your childhood imagination. Relive those moments of excitement, joy, and chaos. Run, jump, climb, and surf in first person across nostalgia-packed environments flooded with hot molten lava. Explore alone, or join your friends. This is a game of dexterity and ingenuity, you will have to use all your skills to complete the treacherous obstacles that await. But whatever you do… Don’t Touch The Floor FEATURES Together: Conquer challenging worlds with up to four of your friends with drop in-drop out multiplayer. Traverse: Run, jump, climb, swing, boost, and surf in first person across lava filled worlds. Mastering execution will take dedication and skill. Explore: Detailed environments jam packed with childhood nostalgia. Compete: To find the fastest route using shortcuts and expert execution on the friends leaderboard. Avoid: Lava, toxic waste, bottomless pits, and crushers. Danger is around every corner.

Screenshots

Monomals4 screens
Hot Lava4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Monomals at 4.7 against Hot Lava's 4.1. Monomals also leads on monetization model (free vs paid) and review sentiment (76% vs 68%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Monomals holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4K and 3.1K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Monomals's written reviews are positive against 68% of Hot Lava's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Monomals versus Hot Lava: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMonomalsHot Lava
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (4K ratings) — better4.1 (3.1K ratings)
Positive reviews76.4% of reviews — better68.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4K — better3.1K
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV
Requires iOS13.513.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size925 MB2.6 GB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperPICOMYKlei

Customer experience

Monomals

All ratings3,490 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral3.7%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews225 reviews
Positive76.4%
Neutral8.0%
Negative15.6%

Hot Lava

All ratings3,103 ratings
Positive74.8%
Neutral7.9%
Negative17.4%
Written reviews774 reviews
Positive68.0%
Neutral12.4%
Negative19.6%

User reviews

Monomals

From 4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great game
  • 🎨 Gorgeous graphics
  • 🎶 Awesome music
  • 🕹️ Fun and engaging gameplay
  • 🎮 Smooth controls

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Challenging and frustrating at times
  • 🎶 Music creation tool is too complex
  • 🔍 Progression issues (unable to revisit older levels)

Hot Lava

From 3.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game
  • 🚀 Awesome graphics
  • 👍 Fun gameplay
  • 👍 Nostalgic vibes
  • 👍 Good for speedrunning

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🐛 Glitchy controls
  • 🐛 Difficulty issues
  • 🔋 Drains device battery
  • 👎 Lacking multiplayer features

Bugs and requests

Monomals

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes at specific levels/bosses
  • Glitches that prevent progression
  • Issues with saving/loading custom music
  • Control problems (unresponsive, fling issues)

Requested features

5 requests
  • More levels and content
  • Improved music creation tools (more instruments, layering, automation)
  • Better save/progress system
  • Difficulty options (easy mode)
  • Controller support improvements

Hot Lava

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes on launch
  • Freezing and performance issues
  • Disappearing save data
  • Unresponsive controls
  • Gyroscope problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add multiplayer mode
  • Improve controls and sensitivity
  • Add more levels and content
  • Provide controller support
  • Allow custom music playback

In-app purchases

None

Monomals

No in-app purchases

None

Hot Lava

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Monomals free?
Monomals is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Hot Lava free?
Hot Lava is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Monomals or Hot Lava?
Monomals is rated higher. Monomals averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4K ratings, while Hot Lava averages 4.1 from 3.1K ratings.
Do Monomals or Hot Lava have ads?
Neither Monomals nor Hot Lava shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Monomals or Hot Lava?
Monomals ships an update every 3 months, and Hot Lava every 3 months. Most recently, Monomals was updated on November 6, 2026 and Hot Lava on November 6, 2026.

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