Comparison

Hex Gem Defense vs Fast Player

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

Head to head
About

Hex Gem Defense

Engage in a tactical gem defense game where strategic tower building and gem selection are key to victory. Face eccentric monsters and powerful bosses across various challenging modes. Master complex strategies to create mazes and defend your territory.

Highlights
  • Powerful Gem System for unique attacking effects
  • Complex Strategy with tower placement and maze creation
  • Six different types of upgradeable towers
  • Challenging monsters and powerful bosses
  • Ladder Mode for competitive scoring
  • Hard and Endless game modes
Features
Read full description

This is a super addicting tactical gem defense game. In the battle of “Hex Gem Defense”, your mission is more than building up different towers and you need to choose different gems for your towers to enhance your battle. This has made the game so special. Six different kinds of towers, six different kinds of gems, eccentric monsters, powerful gem effects. In hard mode and endless mode, Bosses will blow your mind. Well balanced tower and gem are the key to your victory. If you are a lover of defense games, or you are a progamer of tactics, this game has to be your choice. Features: • Powerful Gem System: Different gem can provide different attacking effects. Choose the right gems is the key to victory. • Complex Strategy: Create the maze by build towers in specified locations. The further the monsters walk, the closer the victory is. • Different Towers: 6 powerful towers. Upgrade the towers and enable their unique skills. • Cute But Strong Monsters: Monster’s skills are drastically enabled. Destroy the BOSS first is the most important. •Ladder Mode:In stage of Ladder, monster tends to be more changeable with super power, encouraging the player to make more progress in score, to share the joy and beating competitor. If you have any problem, feel free to contact us, Email: gamehoter@126.com

About

Fast Player

This app plays nearly all audio and video formats, including M3U8 playlists and streaming videos. It offers advanced playback controls, custom subtitle support, and multiple file transfer methods. Secure your media with password protection and enjoy casting to your TV.

Highlights
  • Plays all audio/video formats
  • M3U8 playlist and IPTV support
  • Custom subtitle downloads
  • Multiple file transfer options
  • Cloud drive integration
  • Casting to TV (Chromecast, AirPlay)
  • Archive file support
  • Password protection for privacy
Features
Read full description

Fast player, Supports decoding and playback of almost all audio and video formats. Supports parsing and playing M3U8 playlists, and supports playing streaming videos under IPv6 networks. [Supported Formats] Video Formats: mp4,avi,mkv,rmvb,flv,wmv,wav,3gp,mov,swf,mpeg,mpg,vob,m4v,rm,m2ts,asf,webm,asf,mpg,dat,ts,asx,mp3,f4v,ogv,divx,dv,gxf,m2p,mpeg1,mpeg2,mpeg4,mts,mxf,ogm,qt,wm...almost all movie file formats. Video decoder:H.264(AVC),H.265(HEVC),MPEG-2,MPEG-4,VP8,VP9,THEORA,XVID,DIVX, FLV, WMV1, WMV2... Audio Formats: mp3, wma, wav, dts, aac, amr, flac, ape, cue, amr, m4a, aiff, caff, ape, ogg vorbis,, lossless music...almost all audio file formats. [Key features] - Long press to play at double speed, swipe left to go backward, swipe right to go forward, double-click to pause/play - Custom subtitles: Support downloading subtitles and displaying custom subtitle files. - Parse and open m3u and m3u8 files, support playing IPTV playlists. - Multiple transfer methods: 1. USB transfer (iTunes file sharing) 2. Wi-Fi transfer 3. File servers: SMB/FTP/NFS/SFTP ... - Transfer files via cloud drives: Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud. - Supports casting to TV: UPnP/DLNA, AirPlay, Chromecast, screen mirroring. - Support opening archive files: zip, rar, 7z... - File management: support document sorting, Support searching files. - Privacy protection: Password lock, encrypt and protect your videos, safe and secure. [In-App Purchase] Professional version for Lifetime: -One-time purchase, valid forever, can be resumed at any time. Professional version for one year: - Annual auto-renewable subscription, automatic renewal upon expiration. - After the purchase of the subscription item is confirmed, the subscription fee will be credited to your iTunes account. The subscription will automatically renew unless the automatic renewal feature is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current time period. The account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period.Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Privacy Policy:https://huamei-d3650.web.app/privacypolicy.html Terms of Use:https://huamei-d3650.web.app/terms.html contact us: xihuamei_contact@163.com

Screenshots

Hex Gem Defense4 screens
Fast Player4 screens

Verdict

The call

Hex Gem Defense and Fast Player both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 89% of Hex Gem Defense's written reviews are positive against 68% of Fast Player's. Hex Gem Defense also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). Fast Player's advantage is ratings volume (5K vs 240). On price, rating, 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. Hex Gem Defense sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Fast Player sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Hex Gem Defense against 4.5 for Fast Player. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Fast Player has 5K ratings behind it against 240, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of Hex Gem Defense's written reviews are positive against 68% of Fast Player's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hex Gem Defense ships an update monthly, Fast Player every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Hex Gem Defense versus Fast Player: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHex Gem DefenseFast Player
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (240 ratings)4.5 (5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews89.1% of reviews — better67.9% of reviews
Number of ratings2405K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB161 MB
Age rating4+17+
Developer虎 李章健 杨

Customer experience

Hex Gem Defense

All ratings240 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral5.8%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive89.1%
Neutral5.4%
Negative5.4%

Fast Player

All ratings5,012 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.4%
Negative8.1%
Written reviews714 reviews
Positive67.9%
Neutral8.1%
Negative23.9%

User reviews

Hex Gem Defense

From 240 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Addictive and engaging gameplay
  • 🎨 Minimalistic, clean design with hexagon aesthetic
  • ⚙️ Strategic depth with gem and tower combinations
  • ⏱️ Great time-killer for casual play
  • 🧩 Simple mechanics that are easy to learn

Room to improve

  • 📈 Difficulty spikes too sharply after early levels
  • 💰 Progression requires spending money on upgrades
  • 📚 Poor documentation and sparse instructions
  • 🎵 Music cannot be toggled separately from sound effects
  • 🐛 Tower placement issues and touch positioning bugs

Fast Player

From 5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and user-friendly
  • 👍 Versatile and plays various file formats
  • 💡 Useful for transferring and managing media files
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional freezing and crashing issues
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 📢 Intrusive ads in free version
  • 🔒 Concerns about data privacy and sharing

Bugs and requests

Hex Gem Defense

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Tower placement misalignment on certain levels
  • Touch positioning system inaccuracy on level 6
  • Crashes in ladder mode
  • Armor penetration mechanics not working properly (Rubies and Prism towers)
  • Broken app support webpage link
Show 1 more
  • Dragging tower placement sometimes fails

Requested features

8 requests
  • Separate music and sound effects toggle
  • Open map version with maze-building capability
  • More levels beyond 30 in medium and hard modes
  • Better documentation and in-game tutorials
  • Improved tower placement mechanics
Show 3 more
  • Clear explanation of how to unlock fourth gem slot
  • Better English translation in manual
  • More hints for stuck players

Fast Player

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Videos not playing correctly or only showing audio
  • App failing to remember playback position
  • Issues with file format compatibility
  • Unexpected app crashes and freezes

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add shuffle and repeat options
  • Implement picture-in-picture mode
  • Improve playlist management and file ordering
  • Provide better Bluetooth/AirPlay support

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Hex Gem Defense

One-time5
  • Unlock the 4th gem socket$0.99
  • 10000 diamonds$0.99
  • 23000 diamonds$1.99
Show 2 more
  • 60000 diamonds$4.99
  • 140000 diamonds$8.99
5 purchases

Fast Player

Subscriptions1
  • Annual professional version$3.991 Year
One-time4
  • Compress / unzip the file$0.99
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • Passcode Lock$0.99
Show 1 more
  • Professional Version$5.99

Questions

Is Hex Gem Defense free?
Hex Gem Defense is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Fast Player free?
Fast Player is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hex Gem Defense or Fast Player?
Fast Player is rated higher. Hex Gem Defense averages 4.4 out of 5 from 240 ratings, while Fast Player averages 4.5 from 5K ratings.
Do Hex Gem Defense or Fast Player have ads?
Both Hex Gem Defense and Fast Player show ads.
Which is updated more often, Hex Gem Defense or Fast Player?
Hex Gem Defense ships an update monthly, and Fast Player every 3 weeks. Most recently, Hex Gem Defense was updated on October 24, 2026 and Fast Player on October 29, 2026.

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