Comparison

Dark Maze! vs Halcyon

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

Head to head
About

Dark Maze!

Navigate a ball of light through increasingly challenging mazes by swiping in different directions. Collect all the stars in each level to progress and test your puzzle-solving skills. See how far you can advance through the illuminated pathways.

Highlights
  • Swipe controls for movement
  • Collect stars to win
  • Increasingly difficult levels
  • Puzzle-based gameplay
  • Light and shadow theme
Features
Read full description

Swipe up, down and sideways to move the ball of light around the maze and collect all the stars to win. Each level is a puzzle and they get harder and harder. How far can you go?

About

Halcyon

Engage in a calming tile-matching puzzle experience. Customize your game with your own photos or choose from a variety of illustrated tile sets. Enjoy a peaceful, ad-supported gameplay with options for hints and undos.

Highlights
  • Customizable photo tiles
  • Illustrated tile packs
  • Daily boards
  • Hint and Undo options
  • Multiple board sizes
  • Offline play
Read full description

Halcyon is a calm game of mahjong solitaire. Match pairs, clear the board, unwind — with the game's own illustrated tiles, or tiles made from photographs of your own. EVERY BOARD CAN BE FINISHED Each board is built so that it can always be cleared. If you get stuck, it is the order of your moves, not the deal. Hint points out a pair you can take right now, Undo takes back your last move, and Shuffle re-deals what is left into a fresh layout you can finish. PLAY IT YOUR WAY • Quick boards for a few minutes, Standard boards for a coffee, Evening boards for a long sit • Gentle, Standard or Tricky dealing — difficulty changes how far apart the pairs land, not the shape of the board • Classic layouts, plus 10,000 numbered boards you can return to by number or share with a friend • Surprise Me picks a board, a set and a background for you YOUR PHOTOS AS TILES Choose twelve or more photos, crop each one to the tile, and play any board with them. Photos are chosen through the system photo picker, so Halcyon never asks for access to your library and never sees it — only the pictures you hand over. They are copied into the app on your device and are never uploaded. A sample set is included so you can see how it plays. ONE BOARD A DAY, THE SAME FOR EVERYONE The Daily Board is replaced at midnight and is identical on every device. Play on consecutive days to build a streak: three days earns a Free Pack Pass that opens any locked pack for twenty-four hours, and every twenty-eighth day earns a pack to keep. Missing a day is forgiven once a month, automatically. On some days a locked pack is lent to you for the daily, for nothing. TWENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATED PACKS Every pack is a set of tiles, its own backgrounds and tile styles, and its own music, all made for Halcyon — no stock art, no licensed audio. Bento and Bodega Cat, Cryptid Field Guide and Goblincore, Moon & Dagger and Neon Horizon, Origami, Stained Glass, The Orchestra, Best in Show, The Ski Lodge and many more. Three illustrated sets are yours from the start, and more are earned as you level up. Buy the packs you like one at a time, or unlock everything — including every future pack — with the Complete Collection. Not sure about a pack? Try it for one full game by watching a short ad, and keep playing your own boards without ever seeing one. MADE TO BE QUIET • No account, no sign-in, no tracking • Your streak, level and earned packs follow you between iPhone and iPad through your own iCloud — your photos stay on the device • No tracking prompt, because there is nothing to track — ads are never personalised • Ads only when you ask for one • A night sky behind every screen, system Reduce Motion honoured, a switch for background motion, and haptics you can turn off • Plays in portrait and landscape, on iPhone and iPad • Optional daily reminder — one quiet notification, only on a day you have not played Halcyon is made by Fourth Funnel Games, a small independent studio in Burlington, Massachusetts. If something is not right, tell us at www.fourthfunnelgames.com and we will fix it.

Screenshots

Dark Maze!4 screens
Halcyon4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Dark Maze! at none against Halcyon's 10. Dark Maze! also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). Halcyon's advantage is update cadence (daily vs weekly). On price, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Halcyon sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Dark Maze! asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dark Maze! ships an update weekly, Halcyon daily. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Dark Maze! versus Halcyon: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDark Maze!Halcyon
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings—6 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyDaily — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB90 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNikola IgnjatovicFourth Funnel Games LLC

In-app purchases

None

Dark Maze!

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Halcyon

One-time10
  • Harbour Master Pack$2.99
  • Mission Control Pack$2.99
  • Once Upon a Time Pack$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Best in Show Pack$2.99
  • Stained Glass Pack$2.99
  • Trick or Treat Pack$2.99
  • The Ski Lodge Pack$2.99
  • The Hat Stand Pack$2.99
  • Y2K Pack$2.99
  • Complete Collection$14.99

Questions

Is Dark Maze! free?
Dark Maze! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Halcyon free?
Halcyon is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Dark Maze! or Halcyon have ads?
Both Dark Maze! and Halcyon show ads.
Which is updated more often, Dark Maze! or Halcyon?
Dark Maze! ships an update weekly, and Halcyon daily. Most recently, Dark Maze! was updated on November 3, 2026 and Halcyon on November 6, 2026.

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