Comparison

Light Ignite vs Solar Smash

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

Head to head
About

Light Ignite

Explore the mesmerizing physics of light in this captivating puzzle game. Manipulate lasers, mirrors, and prisms to solve intricate optical challenges. Unleash your creativity by building and sharing your own levels.

Highlights
  • Optical puzzle challenges
  • Laser manipulation
  • Level editor
  • Community level sharing
  • Real-time physics engine
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

Light defines beauty: relax and immerse yourself with this gorgeous, hypnotizing phenomenon in a stunning optical physics light game. Experience the unique physics of light rays in an amazing laser puzzle which is as challenging as it is joyful. Play with laser physics and control the beams reflection, refraction, dispersion and curvature. Discover and become a virtuoso of dozens of exciting tools including lasers in all colors, lenses, mirrors and prisms - and even portals and black holes. And all of this with astonishing, real-time physics and visuals which will blow you away. Bring the light of creativity back into your life and build your own light games and levels - and enjoy countless puzzles by your friends, and the Light Ignite players community. LIGHT IGNITE FEATURES: - Explore: 100+ optical puzzle challenges in varying difficulty levels, from Apprentice to true Master of Light - Discover and master: dozens different exciting tools to use such as a laser light, mirror and semi-mirror, lens, filter, prism - and even a black hole, a portal, a balloon and a switch - Sandbox: Unleash the artist and architect within by building your own levels and art creations and sharing with your family and friends using our built-in sandbox level editor. - Share: countless additional levels built by our community and published frequently - Challenging: prove your mastery of light by collecting all of the stars. Do you have what it takes? - Accessible to all: Light Ignite - Laser Puzzle was built for everyone and can be equally enjoyed as a calm creative light game experience or as a super challenging light puzzle. What are you feelin’ like today? - Beautiful and accurate: believe it or not, we’ve built our own physics engine to make sure the light physics is realistic and fast, allowing for stunning, colorful effects on all devices. Light is so awe-inspiring in of itself, we decided to go natural, clean, simple, and elegant - True optics: explore the physical properties of reflection, refraction, dispersion and curvature - Intuitive, friendly user interface: easily and intuitively control everything so you can just enjoy and experience the marvelous world of Light Ignite with fluid, natural UX - Stunning: full HD graphics and special effects built from the ground up - Adaptive system making sure you’re always able to proceed, advance and even skip levels if you’d like - Completely portable and offline friendly: Light Ignite - Laser Puzzle does not drain your batteries and does not require Internet connectivity so you can play everywhere - on the bus, subway, or even on a plane flight - No physics PhD required to enjoy and master Light Ignite :) You can play and experience Light Ignite as you feel: as a calm, exploratory playful meditation, a challenging light game, or anything in between. Collecting all stars in a given level will provide the highest reward, but you don’t have to - the optical game puzzles are built to be flexible and welcoming. Either way, you’ll have a blast - so wait no more - download today and become a true MASTER OF LIGHT. Follow us and join our community at: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Light-Ignite-103286978119110/ Have a suggestion? Feedback? Let us know how we can make Light Ignite even better! contact@branchingfactor.com 3D models by Synthakat VR, Md Ibrahim Khalil, Thomas DR, Poly by Google on https://poly.google.com/. Sounds by LittleRobotSoundFactory, soneproject on https://freesound.org/. Emoji by https://openmoji.org/.

About

Solar Smash

Unleash your destructive power on planets with a vast arsenal of weapons. From nuclear missiles and lasers to monstrous creatures and asteroids, obliterate celestial bodies in this engaging simulator.

Highlights
  • Planet destruction simulator
  • Variety of weapons
  • Nuclear missiles
  • Lasers
  • Monsters
  • Spaceships
  • Asteroids
Features
Read full description

Harness the power of space and embark on an epic journey of creative destruction with Solar Smash, the ultimate physics-based sandbox simulation game! Simulate the Universe: Control the forces of nature and become a cosmic architect as you explore the boundless expanse of space. Craft and customize your own planetary systems, from the tiniest asteroids to massive gas giants. Two Thrilling Game Modes: Planet Smash: Annihilate planets and moons with over 50 different weapons! Choose from lasers, meteors, nukes, antimatter missiles, UFOs, battleships, space fighters, railguns, black holes, space shibas, orbital ion cannons, supernovas, laser swords, giant monsters, celestial beings, and even defensive weapons like shields and defensive satellites. Destroy everything in your path in both familiar solar systems and exotic star systems with artificial megastructures like ring worlds and giant moons with planetary force fields. Solar System Smash: Dive deep into physics simulations and unleash your creativity in a mode that allows you to play with one of three star systems, including our very own Solar system. Or create your own star systems, complete with planets and set their orbits. Experiment with planetary collisions, create black holes to disrupt orbits, and engage in endless cosmic simulations. Realistic Physics: Experience the breathtaking beauty of scientifically accurate gravitational interactions and celestial mechanics. Witness the awe-inspiring consequences of your every action as you set celestial bodies on collision courses, triggering cataclysmic events that defy imagination. Unleash Your Creativity: It's your universe to shape and reshape! Build, experiment, and destroy to your heart's content. The power to craft worlds or obliterate them is in your hands. What will you create, and what will you obliterate in your quest for cosmic dominance? Destruction Like Never Before: Tear apart planets, cause supernovas, and create black holes that consume everything in their path. Embrace the chaos and experience the visceral satisfaction of witnessing your cosmic masterpieces crumble to dust. Intuitive Controls: Dive into the cosmos with easy-to-use controls designed for both beginners and experienced players. Explore the infinite reaches of the universe and let your imagination run wild. Solar Smash is the ultimate sandbox for those who crave both the creative and the destructive. Are you ready to make your mark on the cosmos? Download Solar Smash now! Indonesia (IGRS) Age Rating: 13+ This game contains flashing lights that may make it unsuitable for people with photosensitive epilepsy or other photosensitive conditions. Player discretion is advised. Space images credits: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Space Telescope Science Institute

Screenshots

Light Ignite4 screens
Solar Smash4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Solar Smash at 80% against Light Ignite's 54%. Solar Smash also leads on ratings volume (401K vs 1.1K) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Light Ignite's advantage is update cadence (every 10 days vs every 4 weeks) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Light Ignite sells 9 one-off in-app purchases and Solar Smash sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Solar Smash holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Solar Smash has 401K ratings behind it against 1.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 54% of Light Ignite's written reviews are positive against 80% of Solar Smash's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Light Ignite ships an update every 10 days, Solar Smash every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Light Ignite versus Solar Smash: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLight IgniteSolar Smash
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.1K ratings)4.8 (401K ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.1% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.1K401K — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#30 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size277 MB439 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperBranching Factor LTDPARADYME LIMITED

Customer experience

Light Ignite

All ratings1,067 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral4.2%
Negative7.0%
Written reviews294 reviews
Positive54.1%
Neutral8.8%
Negative37.1%

Solar Smash

All ratings391,671 ratings
Positive96.0%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews4,065 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral5.5%
Negative14.5%

User reviews

Light Ignite

From 1.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great game mechanics
  • 👍 Fun and challenging puzzles
  • 💡 Unique light/optics concept
  • 🚀 Smooth gameplay
  • 👍 Relaxing and enjoyable experience

Room to improve

  • 🔥 Excessive ads interrupting gameplay
  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs on some devices
  • 🔥 Ads longer than levels
  • 🔥 Ads even after purchasing ad-free version

Solar Smash

From 401K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fun and satisfying
  • 👍 Great graphics
  • 👍 No ads
  • 👍 Offline playability
  • 👍 Variety of planets and weapons

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional glitches and crashes
  • 💡 Lack of new content and updates
  • 💡 Limited planet and weapon options
  • 💡 Unrealistic physics and planet behavior

Bugs and requests

Light Ignite

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Game crashes on launch for some users
  • Levels freezing or not loading properly

Requested features

3 requests
  • More levels and increased difficulty
  • Sandbox mode with more customization options
  • Ability to create and share custom levels

Solar Smash

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Ads not working properly
  • Regeneration missiles getting stuck on loading screen
  • Zooming issues in System Smash mode
  • Glitches with certain weapons and planet interactions

Requested features

6 requests
  • More planets (including Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, etc.)
  • Ability to customize planets and solar systems
  • Natural disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.)
  • Controllable spaceships and alien creatures
  • Improved physics and realism
Show 1 more
  • Ability to view planet from surface perspective

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Light Ignite

One-time9
  • Remove Ads$0.99
  • VIP Pass$0.99
  • Remove Ads$1.99
Show 6 more
  • Sandbox$1.99
  • VIP Pass$1.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • Unlock + Remove Ads$2.99
  • VIP Pass$2.99
  • Sandbox, Level Packs, No Ads$3.99
10 purchases

Solar Smash

One-time10
  • Planet Killer$1.99
  • Von Neumann Probe$1.99
  • Living Planet$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Healing Pack$2.99
  • Unlock Levels and Achievements$2.99
  • AdFree$3.99
  • Alpha Centauri Pack$4.99
  • Monster Weapon Pack$4.99
  • All Planets Pack$7.99
  • All Weapons Pack$9.99

Questions

Is Light Ignite free?
Light Ignite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Solar Smash free?
Solar Smash is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Light Ignite or Solar Smash?
Solar Smash is rated higher. Light Ignite averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while Solar Smash averages 4.8 from 401K ratings.
Do Light Ignite or Solar Smash have ads?
Both Light Ignite and Solar Smash show ads.
Which is updated more often, Light Ignite or Solar Smash?
Light Ignite ships an update every 10 days, and Solar Smash every 4 weeks. Most recently, Light Ignite was updated on October 20, 2026 and Solar Smash on October 25, 2026.

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