Lil Ninja vs Notebook Artillery
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lil Ninja
Guide a nimble ninja upwards by tapping to make them jump and climb. Test your reflexes and see how high you can ascend in this simple yet challenging arcade-style game.
- Tap to jump and climb
- Endless climbing gameplay
- Simple one-touch controls
- Arcade-style challenge
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Tap to jump and climb this lil' ninja as high as you can!
Notebook Artillery
Engage in strategic cannon combat with this arcade-simulation-action game. Adjust firing angle and powder to hit targets or opponents, accounting for wind and random stage layouts. Features hand-drawn art and multiple game modes.
- Adjust firing angle and powder
- Account for wind and stage layouts
- Solo target practice mode
- CPU opponent
- Local multiplayer vs mode
- Hand-drawn game art
- Unlockable stickers
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Apple called it "sketchy — in a good way." Multiple-time Game of the Day in 80+ countries. Nintendo Force gave it 8.5/10. And it started as a doodle. Once upon a time in a middle school computer lab, a student ignored every assignment for an entire semester to fire cannons at a friend. That student grew up, spent 20 years making games professionally, and eventually decided the world needed a proper love letter to that wasted time. This is it. Notebook Artillery is a hand-drawn artillery game inspired by the classic Mac game that got confiscated off school computers everywhere. Set your angle. Load your powder. Fire. Account for the wind. Try not to hit your own tower. Play your way: Solo target practice — break floating targets across randomly generated stages VS CPU — take on a computer opponent Local multiplayer — challenge someone in the same room What makes it feel different: Every frame hand-drawn in Procreate — ruled lines, coil binding, pencil textures, the whole notebook aesthetic Trees splinter. Towers explode. Cannonballs collide mid-air. Wind changes everything. Read the flag. Use your shot trails. Unlock stickers by pulling off feats — first-shot eliminations, mid-air collisions, and yes, accidentally destroying your own tower Randomly generated stages mean no two games play the same Made by one person, with audio by Kevin Samuels and Switch/console ports by PolyCrunch Games. No AI tools were used in making this game. All art hand-drawn. Developed in GameMaker Studio.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Notebook Artillery at 4.5 against Lil Ninja's 3.7. Notebook Artillery also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 33 months) and ratings volume (148 vs 3). Lil Ninja's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (100% vs 82%). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Lil Ninja costs $0.99 and Notebook Artillery $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Notebook Artillery holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notebook Artillery has 148 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of Lil Ninja's written reviews are positive against 82% of Notebook Artillery's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Lil Ninja ships an update every 33 months, Notebook Artillery every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lil Ninja | Notebook Artillery |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | $0.99 |
| Rating | 3.7 (3 ratings) | 4.5 (148 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 81.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 148 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 33 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #168 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.2 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 115 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Anthony Hindle | Austin Ivansmith |
Customer experience
Lil Ninja
Notebook Artillery
Bugs and requests
Lil Ninja
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Notebook Artillery
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on iOS 12 and 13 on iPad Pro
- Inconsistent animation speeds
Requested features
7 requests- Online multiplayer
- Campaign mode with objectives
- Weapon/tower upgrades
- Customization options
- Special game modes (speed run, boss battles, etc.)
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- Ability to save and continue games
- Detailed badge/achievement system
In-app purchases
Lil Ninja
No in-app purchases
Notebook Artillery
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Lil Ninja free?
Is Notebook Artillery free?
Which has better reviews, Lil Ninja or Notebook Artillery?
Do Lil Ninja or Notebook Artillery have ads?
Which is updated more often, Lil Ninja or Notebook Artillery?
Other comparisons
