Comparison

What Lies Underground vs Ada's Study

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

Head to head
About

What Lies Underground

Embark on a first-person puzzle adventure where you awaken in an unknown location. Explore, solve unique puzzles, and uncover a hidden secret. This game offers a calm yet stimulating experience with a handcrafted world and immersive soundtrack.

Highlights
  • Original puzzles
  • Handcrafted world
  • Immersive soundtrack
  • Collect clues and notes
  • Solve at your own pace
  • Unlock achievements
Features
Read full description

What Lies Underground is a first person point and click adventure. Waking far from home in an unknown place, POINT, TAP, PUZZLE and EXPLORE to access something DEEPER within. Can you discover the SECRET underground entrance? Driven under cover of darkness, you awake at a mystery location. You leave the limo with a letter from the redhead driver. Explore your surroundings, use objects and solve puzzles to uncover the secret underground entrance. Escape the noise and challenge your intellect with What Lies Underground. This isn't just another escape game; it's a thoughtfully crafted first-person puzzle adventure designed for curious minds seeking a calm yet stimulating experience. Made with passion by a solo developer, every puzzle is unique, every element handcrafted to draw you in. Why You'll Love Exploring "What Lies Underground": • TRULY ORIGINAL PUZZLES: Forget cookie-cutter solutions. Dive deep into innovative brain-teasers and clever conundrums you won’t find anywhere else. Challenge your logic and creativity! • VIBRANT, HANDCRAFTED WORLD: Explore bright, colorful, and distinct environments – a refreshing visual journey, not your typical dark escape room. Every detail is placed with care. • IMMERSIVE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK: Lose yourself in an atmospheric score, composed and recorded by the solo developer, perfectly enhancing the mystery and your focus. (Best with headphones!) • A PATH THAT UNFOLDS: Collect clues, read notes, and inspect details to piece together the intriguing inward journey at your own pace. What secrets are buried here? • SOLVE AT YOUR OWN PACE: No timers, no pressure. Explore freely, experiment with solutions, and tackle puzzles in any order you discover them. Your progress auto-saves. • PURE, UNINTERRUPTED PLAY: Zero ads. Zero in-app purchases. Just one, premium experience designed to respect your time and intelligence. Buy once, own forever. • UNLOCK ACHIEVEMENTS: 16 thoughtful achievements to discover as you explore and mark your clever solutions. • WITTY & ENGAGING FEEDBACK: Poke, prod, and inspect everything! Enjoy humorous and insightful text responses that reward your curiosity. (In English) PRAISE FOR "WHAT LIES UNDERGROUND": • “This is nothing short of amazing.” – Big Boss Battle • “One of the best new games on our forums.” – TouchArcade IS THIS YOUR KIND OF ADVENTURE? If you love point-and-click adventures, escape rooms that genuinely make you think, or simply cherish indie games made with heart and soul, then What Lies Underground is waiting to be discovered by you. STUCK? WE BELIEVE IN FAIR CHALLENGES: While the puzzles are designed to be solvable with keen observation, if you find yourself truly stumped, thoughtful hints are available at: www.WhatLiesUnderground.com/hints CONNECT & LEARN MORE: Visit the official website: www.WhatLiesUnderground.com

About

Ada's Study

Explore Ada Lovelace's study to uncover a hidden mystery. Solve intricate mechanical puzzles and interact with objects using intuitive touch controls in a beautifully crafted 3D environment. Unravel secrets of epic proportions in this engaging puzzle adventure.

Highlights
  • Investigate Ada Lovelace's disappearance
  • Solve intricate mechanical puzzles
  • Intuitive touch interactions
  • Beautifully crafted 3D visuals
  • Uncover a secret narrative
Features
Read full description

Investigate the disappearance of Ada Lovelace and uncover a secret of epic proportions. A short, high quality game packed with intricate mechanical puzzles and a fascinating mystery, developed by Sherlocked. Dust swirls through her study. Clearly, nobody has been in here for years. The room is filled with desks, cupboards, books, and notes on top of notes. This is the last workplace of Ada Lovelace, the brilliant pioneer of programming, and she has been hiding something. Work your way through every challenge she has left, but beware, you’re not the only person doing the investigating… If you’re a fan of games like “The Room” and “The House of Da Vinci” chances are high you’ll enjoy Ada’s Study. INVESTIGATE ADA LOVELACE Uncover a mystery around the historical figure of Ada Lovelace, the genius mathematician and computer programming pioneer. INTRICATE PUZZLES Solve challenging mechanical puzzles that connect to a larger narrative. INTUITIVE TOUCH INTERACTIONS Interact with objects in a tactile way using natural touch controls. BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED 3D VISUALS Explore a carefully crafted world set in Victorian London with visuals that push the boundary of mobile graphics.

Screenshots

What Lies Underground4 screens
Ada's Study4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: What Lies Underground at 3.9 against Ada's Study's 3.6. Ada's Study's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $3.99) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

What Lies Underground costs $3.99 and Ada's Study $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

What Lies Underground holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 35 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of What Lies Underground's written reviews are positive against 53% of Ada's Study's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

What Lies Underground ships an update monthly, Ada's Study every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
What Lies Underground versus Ada's Study: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWhat Lies UndergroundAda's Study
Price$3.99$0.99 — better
Rating3.9 (20 ratings) — better3.6 (35 ratings)
Positive reviews54.9% of reviews — better52.6% of reviews
Number of ratings2035 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size144 MB281 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperPositronic StudiosSherlocked

Customer experience

What Lies Underground

All ratings20 ratings
Positive65.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive54.9%
Neutral11.8%
Negative33.3%

Ada's Study

All ratings35 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral14.3%
Negative25.7%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive52.6%
Neutral18.4%
Negative28.9%

User reviews

What Lies Underground

From 20 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Challenging and interesting puzzles
  • 👍 Well-made and enjoyable game
  • ✨ Great graphics
  • 🤔 Puzzles make sense
  • 🌟 Unique puzzles

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Too difficult to figure out
  • 🐛 Clunky and unintuitive controls
  • 🐛 Clunky inventory system
  • 🐛 Game is too short
  • 🐛 Abrupt ending with no resolution

Ada's Study

From 35 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Beautiful graphics and art
  • 🧩 Clever and well-crafted puzzles
  • 📚 Captivating and interesting story
  • 👍 Smooth and intuitive gameplay
  • 💡 Well-developed host personality

Room to improve

  • ⏳ Too short for the price
  • 🤏 Very short game length
  • 📉 Anticlimactic ending
  • 💸 Not worth the cost
  • 🤔 Puzzles too easy

Bugs and requests

What Lies Underground

Reported bugs

25 issues
  • Game keeps freezing
  • Objects disappear
  • Game not automatically saved
  • Game freezes
  • Text does not really help
Show 20 more
  • Game keeps stuck
  • Lost an item after placing it
  • Controls are clunky
  • Glitches
  • Cannot find objects
  • Tap multiple times but it doesn’t register
  • Unable to pick up items and click objects
  • Lost two different items
  • Game constantly freezes
  • Autosaving doesn’t work
  • Lost all progress
  • Crashes
  • Cannot go past a certain point because the game crashes
  • Game keeps freezing while zoomed into objects or while looking at something in inventory
  • Game restarts at beginning after closing and continuing
  • Randomly lost an item
  • Freezes all the time
  • Drawers don’t visually open
  • Some puzzles unsolvable without a hint
  • Error in one puzzle clue

Requested features

11 requests
  • Make a follow-up/sequel
  • Add more levels
  • Expand the story
  • Add a snapshot function
  • Add a sketch function
Show 6 more
  • Improve inventory system
  • Improve controls
  • Add more hints
  • Fix bugs and glitches
  • Add autosave functionality
  • Add more gameplay after going underground

Ada's Study

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Gold nub missing from mapping desk
  • Scales string and key string not working
  • Bugs requiring restarts
  • Bookshelf puzzle unplayable
  • Puzzles not working/broken
Show 1 more
  • Weight puzzle broken

Requested features

4 requests
  • More content/longer game
  • Sequels or more chapters
  • More impactful choices
  • Full-fledged multi-room game

In-app purchases

None

What Lies Underground

No in-app purchases

None

Ada's Study

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is What Lies Underground free?
What Lies Underground costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ada's Study free?
Ada's Study costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, What Lies Underground or Ada's Study?
What Lies Underground is rated higher. What Lies Underground averages 3.9 out of 5 from 20 ratings, while Ada's Study averages 3.6 from 35 ratings.
Do What Lies Underground or Ada's Study have ads?
Neither What Lies Underground nor Ada's Study shows ads.
Which is updated more often, What Lies Underground or Ada's Study?
What Lies Underground ships an update monthly, and Ada's Study every 2 weeks. Most recently, What Lies Underground was updated on October 12, 2026 and Ada's Study on October 15, 2026.

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