Comparison

Hero Emblems II vs Square Valley

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

Head to head
About

Hero Emblems II

Embark on an epic adventure combining match-3 puzzles with classic JRPG elements. Lead a team of heroic warriors, unleash powerful skills through strategic emblem matching, and explore a world filled with magic, monsters, and ancient mysteries.

Highlights
  • Match-3 emblem battles
  • Traditional JRPG exploration
  • Unique hero skills and backstories
  • Equipment customization
  • Food consumption system for buffs
  • Japanese character voice acting
Features
Read full description

A new evolution of match-3, combat, and adventure! Hero Emblems II is a JRPG that combines elements of side-scrollers and match-3 games. Players control members of the Night Chasers, a group of heroic warriors, as they embark on an adventure to save their lands from an evil threat. [Game Features] ◆ Thrilling match-3 battle experiences Match three Emblems to clear them from the board and make your heroes attack. Clear four or more to generate Magic Emblems, allowing your heroes to unleash powerful skills. Perform combos to launch even more powerful attacks and vanquish your enemies! ◆ Traditional JRPG experience In a world of magic and swordplay, players will control members of the Night Chasers as they embark on an adventure together. Enter deep caves, explore ancient ruins, unlock treasure chests, fight against ferocious monsters, upgrade your equipment in town, and gain new information from villagers in the local taverns. A exciting RPG experience is waiting for you in Hero Emblems II! ◆ Substitute Heroes Each Hero possesses their own unique skills and backstory. There's Zack, the Human Warrior; Lucien, the Marten Knight; Sid, the Felinian Black Mage; Abner the Bard, and many more! Lead your favorite heroes into battle! ◆ Thrilling Japanese character voices in battles Personalized character voices make combat a thrilling, intense and fun experience! ◆ More equipment Enemies attack with a wide range of debuffs such as Poison, Ignition, Petrification or Curses. To fight against these tough opponents, you will need to choose your Heroes' weapons and armor carefully, and make good use of accessories to resist enemy debuffs and boost your Heroes' abilities! ◆'Food Consumption System' for Enhancing Battle Power A hero's adventure is always brimming with all sorts of challenges. Vicious monsters boast tremendous strength and always catch people off guard with their varied attack styles. Now, heroes can boost their abilities by indulging in delightful delicacies, allowing them to thwart monster attacks with a more refreshing rhythm! ◆One-time payment, IAP-free, and ad-free A New Chapter in the Night Chasers' History A long time ago, there was a mercenary group known as the Night Chasers. Instead of making money, these heroic warriors went around helping those in need. During the war, they helped a great many people who were suffering under tyranny and injustice. However, in the ensuing age of peace, the Night Chasers were no longer needed, and were forced to disband. Years later, four young people - Zack, Lucien, Sid, and Odelia - decided to carry on their legacy, forming the new Night Chasers. One day, Zack and his party save an Elven girl named Dolores. Suffering from amnesia, Dolores cannot remember why she has ventured so far from the Elven Kingdom – only that she has been sent on an urgent quest. Concerned for her well-being, the Night Chasers take her into their fold, leading them to discover an ancient and terrible threat to the kingdom... ** Recommend to use iPhone 6/iPad min4/iPad Air2/iPad 5th Gen./iPad Pro or later devices for better experiences.**

About

Square Valley

Shape unique lands by strategically placing tiles like houses, farms, and natural elements. Connect them with roads and rivers while overcoming placement challenges. Progress through levels to unlock new tiles and face increasingly complex world-building puzzles.

Highlights
  • Tile placement for world creation
  • Connect tiles with roads and rivers
  • Strategic planning and puzzle solving
  • Three chapters with 45 levels
  • Unlock new tiles and overcome obstacles
  • Replay levels for higher scores
  • Sandbox mode for custom experiences
Features
Read full description

A charming tile-laying puzzle game. Make the best valley you can out of the tiles and placements you're given. Puzzles with no randomness can become a bit boring over time. And when it is too random, it can feel unfair. Square Valley sits nicely in the middle where you are challenged for each level, but it still feels fair in the end. Satisfying. Every level is comprised of a fixed set of tiles that come together to form a challenge each step of the way. You're continually cycling through your deck of tiles – always a fresh look. You're also limited to only certain spots on the board where you can place the tiles all in order to reach the highest score you can. A windmill wants the surrounding wheat fields, forests have winding rivers through them, and churches stand firm within the city walls packed with houses. Not to worry, you won't get stuck. There's generous room to succeed at every level. Leaderboards are there too, for those who want to keep challenging themselves. Feel free to push forward, or go back to previous levels and beat your old self. When you complete that last turn, you'll find yourself with a unique little village to be proud of. Features: + Pay once – no ads, no in-app purchases, no account required + 150+ tiles · 45 levels · 3 chapters + A new challenge every day, for everyone + Set your own rules to play with tiles drawn at random + Competitive leaderboards + Works offline

Screenshots

Hero Emblems II4 screens
Square Valley4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Square Valley at 4.8 against Hero Emblems II's 4.3. Square Valley also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 63%) and price ($2.99 vs $3.99). Hero Emblems II's advantage is chart position (#166 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (10.3 vs 15.0). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Hero Emblems II costs $3.99 and Square Valley $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Square Valley holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 156 and 93 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Hero Emblems II's written reviews are positive against 86% of Square Valley's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hero Emblems II ships an update every 3 weeks, Square Valley every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Hero Emblems II versus Square Valley: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHero Emblems IISquare Valley
Price$3.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.3 (156 ratings)4.8 (93 ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.8% of reviews85.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings156 — better93
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#166 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.3 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size544 MB125 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperHeatPot Games Ltd.Ryan Becijos

Customer experience

Hero Emblems II

All ratings156 ratings
Positive81.4%
Neutral7.1%
Negative11.5%
Written reviews180 reviews
Positive62.8%
Neutral11.7%
Negative25.6%

Square Valley

All ratings93 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral3.2%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive85.5%
Neutral5.3%
Negative9.2%

User reviews

Hero Emblems II

From 156 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Excellent match-3 gameplay mechanics
  • 💰 No pay-to-win or microtransactions
  • 🎨 Beautiful graphics and animations
  • 🎵 Great music and character voice acting
  • 📖 Engaging story with RPG elements

Room to improve

  • ⚔️ Severe difficulty spikes and boss balancing issues
  • ⏳ Excessive grinding required for progression
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and soft crashes
  • 🌍 Poor English localization and translation quality
  • 📋 Lack of quest journal or quest tracking system

Square Valley

From 93 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Engaging tile placement puzzle mechanics
  • 🎵 Relaxing and pleasant background music
  • 🎨 Beautiful minimalist art style and visuals
  • 😌 Calming and stress-relieving gameplay
  • 💰 No ads or in-app purchases

Room to improve

  • ❓ Unclear tile descriptions and requirements
  • 🎲 High randomness can lead to unwinnable scenarios
  • 📊 No real-time score feedback during gameplay
  • 🐛 Occasional scoring calculation bugs
  • 📱 Portrait-only mode (no landscape on iPad)

Bugs and requests

Hero Emblems II

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • Game crashes during final boss battles
  • Soft crashes and emblem dropping errors
  • iCloud sync not working properly after reinstall
  • Location markers disappearing after quest completion
  • Touchscreen input not working on one side of map
Show 6 more
  • Elf character joining prevents map movement
  • Five-star gems unable to convert with adjacent gems
  • Visual glitches and display errors
  • iPad home bar black border display issue
  • iPad orientation support missing
  • Game freezing and crashing randomly

Requested features

11 requests
  • Enemy level indicators for dungeon difficulty assessment
  • Quest journal and quest tracking system
  • Endgame endless mode for post-story gameplay
  • Easy or casual difficulty mode
  • Game+ or New Game+ mode
Show 6 more
  • Multiplayer PvP battle mode
  • Korean language support
  • Better iCloud sync functionality
  • Difficulty balancing adjustments
  • More distinct puzzle board icons
  • Faster map navigation speed

Square Valley

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Leaderboard freezes when displaying top 10 scores
  • Tile scoring miscalculations (e.g., Cherry Orchard, Fir Grove)
  • Tutorial bug where selected tiles change unexpectedly
  • Some tiles don't work as described in requirements
  • Scoring feedback unclear until level completion
Show 3 more
  • Inconsistent tile placement rules not documented
  • Protected Copper Beech scoring issues
  • Random tile placement can create impossible scenarios

Requested features

14 requests
  • More levels and chapters
  • Landscape/iPad support with larger maps
  • iCloud synchronization across devices
  • Real-time score feedback per tile placement
  • Glossary with detailed tile explanations
Show 9 more
  • Personal stats and score history per level
  • Customizable sandbox mode with more options
  • Music volume slider (separate from sound effects)
  • Global leaderboards with player names
  • Board game physical version
  • Expansion packs with new tile sets
  • Undo and skip buttons (mentioned as implemented in recent update)
  • Additional language translations
  • Split-screen multiplayer mode

In-app purchases

None

Hero Emblems II

No in-app purchases

None

Square Valley

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hero Emblems II free?
Hero Emblems II costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Square Valley free?
Square Valley costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hero Emblems II or Square Valley?
Square Valley is rated higher. Hero Emblems II averages 4.3 out of 5 from 156 ratings, while Square Valley averages 4.8 from 93 ratings.
Do Hero Emblems II or Square Valley have ads?
Neither Hero Emblems II nor Square Valley shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hero Emblems II or Square Valley?
Hero Emblems II ships an update every 3 weeks, and Square Valley every 2 weeks. Most recently, Hero Emblems II was updated on September 25, 2026 and Square Valley on September 23, 2026.

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