Comparison

ilu vs Sumaddle

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

Head to head
About

ilu

This logic puzzle game challenges you to illuminate dark areas by strategically placing lights. As you terraform barren planets and spread light, watch them transform with vibrant, animated life. Discover clever solutions and enjoy a relaxing, dynamic experience.

Highlights
  • Infinite relaxing logic puzzles
  • Illuminate dark areas with light
  • Terraform barren planets
  • Discover clever solutions
  • Dynamic music
  • Animated hint system
Features
Read full description

ilu is a puzzle game. In every puzzle, all that is dark must light up. You place a light by tapping a dark area. You will discover clever ways to place the lights as you play the game. STORY: ilu is light. You are a keeper of light. In the vast void of space, countless lost worlds drift in the dark. Planets that have lost their star mothers and are too far and cold for the rays of starlight to warm their dark and frozen features. It is your mission to terraform these barren planets. As you spread light through the worlds of ilu, watch the ground light up while colorful and beautifully animated plants sprout as the entire world gently teems with life. FEATURES: • Infinite relaxing logic puzzles solved with light • Simple rules that create compelling solutions • Dynamic music that responds to your play • An animated & intelligent hint system that teaches & guides your way The puzzles of ilu can be solved with pure logic alone. We wanted to share the wonderful "aha!" moments of discovering the solutions with you. ilu is supported with ads, but you have the option to permanently remove the ads from the game with an in-app purchase.

About

Sumaddle

This logic puzzle game transforms pencil-and-paper challenges into interactive brain teasers. Fit number combinations to clues using pure logic, with no mental arithmetic required. Enjoy over 150 free puzzles of varying difficulty, with built-in help and offline play.

Highlights
  • Interactive logic puzzles
  • Number combination fitting
  • Pure logic solving
  • Built-in help and mistake correction
  • Over 150 free puzzles
  • Offline play
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

• “Brilliant puzzle game”, UK App Store review Apr 2025 • “Best Puzzle Game I’ve Ever Played”, US App Store review Jan 2025 • “The ONLY iOS game I've never gotten tired of”, Reddit review Apr 2024 This type of logical puzzle was first seen in the Japan Puzzle Championship 2006 and is sometimes known as Doppelblock, or Smashed Sums. When played with pencil and paper, these puzzles can be hard work to solve. Sumaddle changes that by adding the essential element of interaction. This transforms the puzzles into intriguing brain teasers that unfold before your eyes. Each puzzle has a unique solution. Finding the solution involves fitting the number combinations to the clues. The app makes it easy to view the possible combinations, you don’t need to do any sums in your head. Instead, you can focus on using logic to narrow down the combinations and find a fitting arrangement. Some reasons why you will enjoy playing Sumaddle: • puzzles range in size and difficulty from small and simple to large and mind-blowing • more than 150 puzzles are included for free • all puzzles can be solved with pure logic, no mental arithmetic required • the sophisticated built-in help can explain the logical reasoning at each step and also fix mistakes if you go wrong • the built-in help is completely free, use it as much as you like • works offline (great for long journeys) • a high standard of accessibility, including comprehensive support for VoiceOver • ad-free play - there are absolutely no ads! IGRS age rating (Indonesia Game Rating System): 3+ Designed and developed in Winterthur, Switzerland

Screenshots

ilu4 screens
Sumaddle3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sumaddle at 95% against ilu's 69%. Sumaddle also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.7). ilu's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16.0). 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. ilu sells 9 one-off in-app purchases and Sumaddle sells 15 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sumaddle holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.1K and 767 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 69% of ilu's written reviews are positive against 95% of Sumaddle's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ilu versus Sumaddle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriluSumaddle
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.1K ratings)4.9 (767 ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.0% of reviews94.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.1K — better767
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS9.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size535 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrainium Studios LLCJonathan Buchanan

Customer experience

ilu

All ratings2,122 ratings
Positive93.7%
Neutral4.1%
Negative2.1%
Written reviews171 reviews
Positive69.0%
Neutral8.8%
Negative22.2%

Sumaddle

All ratings767 ratings
Positive98.3%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews98 reviews
Positive94.9%
Neutral1.0%
Negative4.1%

User reviews

ilu

From 2.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Beautiful graphics and visuals
  • 🎶 Relaxing and soothing music
  • 🧠 Challenging and stimulating puzzles
  • 🆓 Free hints and no pay-to-win mechanics
  • 🕹️ Simple but unique gameplay mechanics

Room to improve

  • 🤏 Small touch targets, especially on larger puzzles
  • 🤔 Difficulty in distinguishing markers from lights
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches
  • 📉 Lack of progress tracking or replay options

Sumaddle

From 767 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and challenging game
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 👍 Helpful hint system
  • 🚀 No ads or data collection
  • 💡 Unique puzzle concept

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Automatic hints can be intrusive
  • 🐛 Inability to replay completed puzzles
  • 💡 Need more free/sample puzzles
  • 💡 Difficulty progression could be improved

Bugs and requests

ilu

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes on launch for some users
  • Placement of markers and lights not always registering correctly
  • Recent update changed visuals in a way that made the game less clear

Requested features

4 requests
  • Zoom or pan functionality for larger puzzles
  • Separate marker and light placement modes
  • Progress tracking and ability to replay past puzzles
  • More variety in background music tracks

Sumaddle

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Losing progress when minimizing the app
  • Inconsistent difficulty ratings

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to selectively pencil in notes
  • More difficult puzzle options
  • Synced progress across devices
  • Detailed statistics and leaderboard

In-app purchases

9 purchases

ilu

One-time9
  • 100 Ad-Free Puzzles$0.99
  • Terra Suit$0.99
  • Turbo Suit$1.99
Show 6 more
  • The Botanic$1.99
  • Pod$2.99
  • Spectral Suit$3.99
  • Chromus$4.99
  • Ayianna$6.99
  • Unlock Ad-Free$7.99
15 purchases

Sumaddle

One-time15
  • Quirky, Pack 5$0.99
  • Very Difficult Puzzles$0.99
  • Quirky, Pack 1$0.99
Show 12 more
  • Premium 9x9 Puzzles, Pack 1$0.99
  • Crafty, Pack 1$0.99
  • Crafty, Pack 2$0.99
  • Crafty, Pack 3$0.99
  • Sneaky, Pack 1$0.99
  • Sneaky, Pack 2$0.99
  • Sneaky, Pack 3$0.99
  • Tricky, Pack 1$0.99
  • Tricky, Pack 2$0.99
  • Tricky, Pack 3$0.99
  • Assorted Puzzles$0.99
  • Puzzle Generator$9.99

Questions

Is ilu free?
ilu is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sumaddle free?
Sumaddle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ilu or Sumaddle?
Sumaddle is rated higher. ilu averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.1K ratings, while Sumaddle averages 4.9 from 767 ratings.
Do ilu or Sumaddle have ads?
Neither ilu nor Sumaddle shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ilu or Sumaddle?
ilu ships an update every 3 weeks, and Sumaddle every 3 weeks. Most recently, ilu was updated on September 10, 2026 and Sumaddle on September 25, 2026.

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