Candleman vs Sketchbook Runner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Candleman
Embark on an action-adventure journey as a small candle with a limited light source. Navigate challenging levels in darkness, utilizing light and shadow mechanics to overcome obstacles and uncover hidden treasures in an enchanting fairytale world.
- 10-second light mechanic
- Light and shadow gameplay
- Challenging levels
- Enchanted environments
- Fairytale story
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Despite only being able to burn for 10 seconds, a little candle journeys into the darkness, with the purpose of seeking light. Candleman is a distinctive action adventure story entwined with low-light gameplay. Acting as a little candle who can burn for only 10 seconds, venture through an unsettling darkness with challenging levels and a smooth difficulty curve. Struggle to overcome obstacles based on the mechanics of light and shadow, explore a wide range of enchanted environments, and unveil hidden treasure as you seek the distant light. Features • Journey through dark, enchanting worlds with 10 seconds of light. • Face innovative challenges rooted in the mechanics of light and shadow. • Be immersed in a stunning fairytale that highlights everyday issues.
Sketchbook Runner
Draw bridges and ramps to guide a stickman across gaps in this hand-drawn platformer. Race against others in real-time multiplayer or tackle challenging boss levels. Customize your character with earned cosmetics.
- Draw bridges and ramps
- Hand-drawn doodle art style
- Real-time multiplayer races
- 50 hand-built levels
- Endless mode
- Character customization
- Offline campaign play
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Your runner can't stop. The page is full of gaps. All you have is a pencil. Sketchbook Runner is a hand-drawn doodle platformer where you draw lines to bridge every gap. Your stickman runs on its own — you draw the path. Drag to draw a bridge, a ramp or a loop. Tap to jump. Beat 50 hand-built levels across 10 chapters, run forever in endless mode, or race up to 4 players live. DRAW THE LINE. DON'T FALL. Gaps are everywhere. Draw ink lines to cross them — flat to walk, sloped to launch, a quick loop to bounce sky-high. Run out of ink mid-bridge and you fall. Drawing IS the game, and every chapter teaches a new trick with your pencil. RACE LIVE — MULTIPLAYER Race up to four players in real time on the same level and watch their ink appear stroke for stroke. Climb the global leaderboards, or chase a ghost: the world's #1 run or your own personal best. TEN CHAPTERS, TEN BOSSES • Pencil Marks — learn to draw across gaps. • Take a Leap — tap to jump when drawing is too slow. • Sharp Edges — plan your bridges around spikes. • Saw Mill — arc over spinning blades. • Moving Targets — time your lines past swinging saws. • Upside Down — gravity flips. Run on the ceiling. • The Eraser — draw a loop to bounce sky-high. • Head in the Clouds — ride updrafts, fight headwinds, catch a glider. • The Ruler — draw across the bars to break through walls. • The Author — every mechanic at once, and the page fights back. Every chapter ends in a boss that rewrites the rules. The Critic snatches your pencil. The Spike Lord forces a bouncing rhythm. The Eraser scrubs your lines off the page. Vertigo flips the world. ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW • Endless mode that re-seeds every week — the same course for everyone. • Daily challenge: one level pays double pencils every 24 hours. • A 7-day daily reward streak. • Three-star ratings and hidden treasure chests on every level. DRESS UP YOUR STICKMAN 20+ hand-drawn cosmetics — top hats, capes, crowns, halos, devil horns — plus pet followers (a cat, a dog, a ghost and more) and ink colors from plain graphite to rainbow and glitter. Three-star a level to unlock fun mods like Moon Boots, Big Head and Tiny Runner. NO TIMERS, NO PAYWALLS No energy meters. No lives on a clock. Nothing you can buy gates your progress — every cosmetic is earned by playing. The campaign plays offline, as long as you like. DRAWN AT RUNTIME Every line on screen — platforms, spikes, saws, the stickman, the cosmetics — is drawn procedurally. No sprites. Sharp on every phone and tablet.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sketchbook Runner at none against Candleman's 1. Sketchbook Runner also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 11 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Candleman's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (43 vs 1). On price and device support 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. Candleman sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sketchbook Runner asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sketchbook Runner holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Candleman has 43 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Candleman ships an update every 11 months, Sketchbook Runner every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Candleman | Sketchbook Runner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (43 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 88.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 43 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.3 GB | 95 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Beijing Jiao Dian Chuang Yi digital technology Co.,Ltd. | Matt Panton |
Customer experience
Candleman
Sketchbook Runner
In-app purchases
Candleman
- Candleman full game$4.99
Sketchbook Runner
No in-app purchases









