What Lies Underground vs Recursion
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Original puzzles
- Handcrafted world
- Immersive soundtrack
- Collect clues and notes
- Solve at your own pace
- Unlock achievements
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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
Recursion
Embark on a mind-bending puzzle adventure where you're trapped in a repeating time loop. Use your wits and a special device to solve mysteries, find clues, and shut down a machine before the loop resets. This compact mystery game offers challenging puzzles and a unique narrative.
- Time-loop mechanic
- First-person point and click adventure
- Mystery and puzzle solving
- Clue finding
- Hint system
- Immersive soundtrack and sound effects
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Enter a mind-bending first-person puzzle adventure. Explore mysterious rooms, solve glitches, and navigate a time loop to uncover the truth. Something is wrong. All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again. Explore a strange, glitch-filled facility and uncover the secrets hidden within Recursion. Features: • Immersive first-person escape room gameplay • Mind-bending riddles, hidden clues, and layered mysteries • The Glitch Camera — capture details and reveal secrets others miss • Intuitive controls for a smooth, engaging experience • No ads, no interruptions — just pure puzzle adventure Can you escape the glitch? Download Recursion now and dive into a sci-fi puzzle adventure unlike any other! From Glitch Games, a small indie team crafting unique memory puzzles, point-and-click mysteries, and immersive story experiences. Follow us for updates, news, and behind-the-scenes content: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlitchGames/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/glitch.games Newsletter: https://glitch.games/newsletter Twitter: https://x.com/GlitchGames Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theglitchgames/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GlitchGames
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Recursion at 4.2 against What Lies Underground's 4.0. Recursion also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly) and chart position (#200 vs unranked). What Lies Underground's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $3.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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
What Lies Underground costs $0.99 and Recursion $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Recursion holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 68 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of What Lies Underground's written reviews are positive against 65% of Recursion's.
What Lies Underground ships an update monthly, Recursion every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | What Lies Underground | Recursion |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (20 ratings) | 4.2 (68 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.9% of reviews | 64.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 20 | 68 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #200 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 144 MB | 550 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Positronic Studios | Glitch Games |
Customer experience
What Lies Underground
Recursion
User reviews
What Lies Underground
From 20 App Store ratingsWhat 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
Recursion
From 68 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Unique and innovative gameplay mechanics
- 😂 Lots of fun and laughter
- 👍 Great twist on game types
- 🧠 Mind-bending puzzles
- 🌟 High-quality games from developer
Room to improve
- 🔁 Repetitive tasks and puzzles
- ⏳ Too much dying and restarting
- 😩 Tedious and frustrating experience
- ⏱️ Time loop/timer causes anxiety
- ⏳ Game feels too short
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 moreShow fewer
- 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 moreShow fewer
- Improve inventory system
- Improve controls
- Add more hints
- Fix bugs and glitches
- Add autosave functionality
- Add more gameplay after going underground
Recursion
Reported bugs
4 issues- Lift doors in chapter 3 wouldn't open
- Wireless controller doesn't appear
- Game crashes on start-up
- Stuck in the elevator (potential bug)
Requested features
6 requests- Add a setting to remove the time loop
- Option to disable the timer
- Longer game duration
- Richer story content
- More variety in game environments (less industrial)
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Sequels to previous games (Veritas, All That Remains)
In-app purchases
What Lies Underground
No in-app purchases
Recursion
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is What Lies Underground free?
Is Recursion free?
Which has better reviews, What Lies Underground or Recursion?
Do What Lies Underground or Recursion have ads?
Which is updated more often, What Lies Underground or Recursion?
Other comparisons
