ilu vs Sumaddle
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Infinite relaxing logic puzzles
- Illuminate dark areas with light
- Terraform barren planets
- Discover clever solutions
- Dynamic music
- Animated hint system
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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.
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.
- Interactive logic puzzles
- Number combination fitting
- Pure logic solving
- Built-in help and mistake correction
- Over 150 free puzzles
- Offline play
- Ad-free experience
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• “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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ilu | Sumaddle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2.1K ratings) | 4.9 (767 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 69.0% of reviews | 94.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K — better | 767 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 535 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Brainium Studios LLC | Jonathan Buchanan |
Customer experience
ilu
Sumaddle
User reviews
ilu
From 2.1K App Store ratingsWhat 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 ratingsWhat 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
ilu
- 100 Ad-Free Puzzles$0.99
- Terra Suit$0.99
- Turbo Suit$1.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- The Botanic$1.99
- Pod$2.99
- Spectral Suit$3.99
- Chromus$4.99
- Ayianna$6.99
- Unlock Ad-Free$7.99
Sumaddle
- Quirky, Pack 5$0.99
- Very Difficult Puzzles$0.99
- Quirky, Pack 1$0.99
Show 12 moreShow fewer
- 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









