IllumiMaze vs Joy Mahjong
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
IllumiMaze
Guide a glowing character through dark mazes, illuminating the path to escape. Collect power-ups to restore energy and use wormholes strategically to reach the exit before time runs out. Conquer mazes with the fewest attempts and shortest time.
- Maze illumination gameplay
- Character energy management
- Power station battery collection
- Wormhole mechanics
- Time and attempt scoring
- Multiple difficulty levels
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Meet Bowtie Guy! A doorway opens in a dark maze. Your glowing, smiling Bowtie Guy appears in the doorway and illuminates the immediate surrounding maze... But, he won't be smiling for long unless you can navigate through the dark maze, illuminating it as you go. Find the way out before the maze’s illumination fades and your Bowtie Guy loses his energy. As the Bowtie Guy's energy level drains his expression becomes increasingly sad and he begins to fade! Restore Your Glow! You can restore Bowtie Guy's energy by seeking the power station batteries hidden along the maze. The batteries have a finite amount of power and will go dark once you've drained them. Wormholes - Friend or Foe? Your goal is to find the blue, glowing exit before your energy runs out, but also keep an eye out for wormholes! Wormholes can be your friend, transporting you nearer the exit, or your nemesis, carrying you further away! Wormholes don't appear in all mazes, and on a few they may actually be your only chance to reach the exit. Score and More Your goal is conquer the mazes in the fewest attempts and in the shortest time. IllumiMaze is free and comes with nine mazes at each of the three levels - "Fun," "Challenge," and "Frustrating".
Joy Mahjong
Match identical items by clicking on them to earn points and progress through challenges. This classic puzzle game offers a straightforward yet engaging experience for players seeking a relaxing brain teaser.
- Match identical items
- Connect items for points
- Classic puzzle gameplay
- Challenging levels
- Simple tap controls
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In the game, we need to click to find two identical items and connect them to get points. Now let's challenge together!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Joy Mahjong at none against IllumiMaze's 10. Joy Mahjong also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 20 months) and ratings volume (14 vs 2). On price, rating, ads and monetization model 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. IllumiMaze sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Joy Mahjong asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for IllumiMaze against 5.0 for Joy Mahjong. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Joy Mahjong has 14 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
IllumiMaze ships an update every 20 months, Joy Mahjong every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | IllumiMaze | Joy Mahjong |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (14 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 14 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 20 months | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | One Bad Ant | 术 徐 |
Customer experience
IllumiMaze
Joy Mahjong
In-app purchases
IllumiMaze
- Challenge Level Maze #6$0.99
- Challenge Level Maze #7$0.99
- Challenge Level Maze #8$0.99
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- Challenge Level Maze #9$0.99
- Frustrating Level Maze #4$0.99
- Frustrating Level Maze #5$0.99
- rustrating Level Maze #6$0.99
- Frustrating Level Maze #7$0.99
- Frustrating Level Maze #8$0.99
- Frustrating Level Maze #9$0.99
Joy Mahjong
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is IllumiMaze free?
Is Joy Mahjong free?
Which has better reviews, IllumiMaze or Joy Mahjong?
Do IllumiMaze or Joy Mahjong have ads?
Which is updated more often, IllumiMaze or Joy Mahjong?
Other comparisons
