Comparison

Ancient Games vs Lumen Nodes

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

Head to head
About

Ancient Games

Explore and play a collection of ancient board games brought back to life with modern app design. Enjoy offline and online play, collect customizable game pieces, and tackle fun challenges. Save progress across all games with cloud saves.

Highlights
  • Play multiple ancient games in one app
  • Offline and online multiplayer
  • AI, friend, and random player matches
  • Collectible game pieces and boards
  • Challenges with rule variants
  • Free cloud saves across games
Features
Read full description

/!\ If you play more than one of my Ancient Games, I suggest you delete the individual apps and install this one. It will allow you to play them all and save disk storage. /!\ -Languages : English, French, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, German, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, Turkish. The past is full of fascinating games that haves been mostly forgotten. The Ancient Games collection aims to resurrect them as a meticulously crafted mix between what a player wants from an historical game and what he/she expects of a modern application. Features : -Play against the IA, friends and random players from around the world (Coming back soon) -Play Online & Offline. -Multiple collectibles : boards, game pieces, dice, nameplates, etc. -Challenges (Fun rule variants) -Free cloudsave across the collection : your progress in one game is available in all the others. -Much more features to come! Currently, the collection is comprised of four games : the Royal Game of Ur, Senet, XII Scripta and Puluc, but 40 games are in the works! You can see the roadmap here : https://trello.com/b/QYtOXwJi/ancient-games-roadmap Each game will be added to the Ancient Games app and will have its own individual app as well. The privacy policy has been updated in accordance to the latest data protection laws.

About

Lumen Nodes

Features
Read full description

LUMEN NODES — Route the light. A calm light-routing puzzle for iPhone and iPad. Place lumens, aim their beams, and route light across the board until every extractor hums at its exact target. The first few levels gently show you the ropes — then it's just you and the board. No timers, no pressure. Only the quiet click of a circuit falling into place. — THREE WAYS TO PLAY — CAMPAIGN. One hundred levels across four chapters. Complexity grows from the first quiet square to the legendary 16×16 capstone — every shape unique, every solution discoverable. DAILY. The same puzzle for everyone, every day. Streaks count. Skip a day and start over. A small ritual at local midnight. INFINITE. Endless rounds, one after another. Game Center leaderboards: all-time, weekly, daily. How far can you push? — DESIGNED FOR CALM — • Plays on iPhone and iPad, with iCloud sync — start a board on one device and pick it up on another. • Dozens of visual themes. Cardstock pastels, deep cosmic, animated sakura petals, drifting dust motes, sonar rings over a quiet sea — pick the one that feels like today. • 17 achievements. Hidden trophies for the curious. One legendary unlock that nobody talks about. • Ten languages. English, German, French, Spanish, Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian, Bosnian, Croatian, Slovenian. • Plays offline. No account, no login. • Game Center for achievements and leaderboards. — FAIR MONETISATION — Free download. All 100 campaign levels, the daily challenge, and infinite mode are fully playable without paying anything. Light points are earned through play — every star rating, every daily completion, every infinite round contributes, so you can unlock extras without spending. Optional purchases: • Ad-Free Bundle — $2.99, one-time. Removes ads, unlocks all 15 premium themes, and adds one extra life on every level. • Light Point packs — optional top-ups if you'd like to unlock themes, cosmetics or undos faster. — BUILT BY ONE PERSON — Lumen Nodes is made by an independent developer in Austria. Found a bug? Have an idea? Write directly: support@lumen-nodes.com Privacy Policy: https://lumen-nodes.com/privacy Terms of Use: Apple Standard EULA applies (https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/) Support: https://lumen-nodes.com/support

Screenshots

Ancient Games3 screens
Lumen Nodes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Lumen Nodes at every 2 days against Ancient Games's every 3 weeks. Ancient Games's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.6). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Ancient Games sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Lumen Nodes sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ancient Games ships an update every 3 weeks, Lumen Nodes every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Ancient Games versus Lumen Nodes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAncient GamesLumen Nodes
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (287 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings287 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS12.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size212 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSullivan BousiniereMalik Muric

Bugs and requests

Ancient Games

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • Game freezes after match completion
  • Screen goes dark and becomes unresponsive post-game
  • Ad removal purchase only lasts one game
  • Paid ad removal still shows advertisements
  • Game continues playing after player wins
Show 6 more
  • Cannot make legal moves despite availability
  • XII Scripta piece stacking rules not enforced correctly
  • Purchased board content inaccessible due to subscription requirement
  • Report button links to Mail app instead of App Store
  • Text rendering issues making content hard to read
  • Online play frequently unavailable or non-functional

Requested features

10 requests
  • Two-player local multiplayer mode
  • Friends list and challenge system
  • Leaderboards and ranking system
  • Win/loss statistics and game history tracking
  • Ability to play offline while waiting for online opponents
Show 5 more
  • Permanent one-time purchase option instead of subscription
  • More ancient games added to collection
  • Harder difficulty levels beyond current maximum
  • Better XP progression for unlocking boards
  • Improved customer support contact options

Lumen Nodes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Ancient Games

Subscriptions1
  • AG+$3.991 Month
One-time9
  • Ancient Artifact$0.99
  • Purchase Game Edition2 variants$1.99
  • Dawn of Civilization DLC$2.99
Show 6 more
  • Purchase Game Edition$2.99
  • Skeleton Key$2.99
  • Ur Divine Edition$3.99
  • Purchase Game Edition$3.99
  • Purchase Game Edition$10.99
  • Royal Pass$12.99
5 purchases

Lumen Nodes

One-time5
  • Starter Spark$0.99
  • Save Your Streak$0.99
  • Bright Pulse$2.99
Show 2 more
  • Support the Developer$2.99
  • Solar Surge$4.99

Questions

Is Ancient Games free?
Ancient Games is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Lumen Nodes free?
Lumen Nodes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Ancient Games or Lumen Nodes have ads?
Both Ancient Games and Lumen Nodes show ads.
Which is updated more often, Ancient Games or Lumen Nodes?
Ancient Games ships an update every 3 weeks, and Lumen Nodes every 2 days. Most recently, Ancient Games was updated on October 24, 2026 and Lumen Nodes on October 19, 2026.

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