Comparison

Luminosus vs HackEm

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

Head to head
About

Luminosus

A unique puzzle game blending Tetris-style gameplay with color-matching mechanics. Plan your moves ahead to create white blocks for higher scores. Offers classic and marathon modes, leaderboards, and achievements for endless fun.

Highlights
  • Color-matching puzzle mechanics
  • Strategic planning ahead
  • Classic and Marathon modes
  • Global leaderboards
  • Achievements
  • Controller support
  • Color blind and night modes
Features
Read full description

**Editors pick for “New games we love” in 135+ countries** **Editors pick for “New and noteworthy games” in 150+ countries** **Editors pick for “What we are playing this week”** **Editors choice "Indie corner"** Luminosus is a unique and challenging puzzle game that combines the fun of matching colors on a Tetris-esque board. Puzzle pieces can be changed back and forth as many times as you want, so a red block will change a yellow piece orange but another red piece will change it back to red. If a piece is influenced by all three colors it is turned white and scores significantly more when cleared. In this way the game requires planning more steps ahead than your standard piece-dropping puzzle game. With its simple but addictive gameplay, Luminosus offers hours of entertainment and a twist on the classic Tetris and Puyo experience. Features: • Classic mode for a relaxing experience • Marathon game mode for the ultimate challenge • Compete against the world on the leaderboard • Achievements • Controller support • Color blind and night modes • Unique and challenging gameplay that combines Tetris with color matching

About

HackEm

Engage in a unique blend of real-time strategy and tower defense as a hacker seeking revenge. Build a base to extract data and defend against security drones and autobots on randomly generated maps. Upgrade weapons and equipment with earned credits.

Highlights
  • Real-time strategy and tower defense mix
  • Diverse enemies with unique mechanics
  • Randomly generated maps
  • Extensive weapon and equipment upgrades
  • Intuitive controls
  • No ads or in-app purchases
Read full description

HackEn is a mix of a real-time strategy and a tower defense game. The player is a hacker who has been set up by a mysterious enemy and now is trying to get his revenge. The game is a mix of a real-time strategy and a tower defender. Data sources are located on the randomly generated map and the player will need to build a base to extract information from all of them and at the same time protect himself from waves of security drones with turrets and autobots. Completing missions will reward the player with credits that can be used to unlock new weapons and equipment upgrades. Features: • Original mix of RTS and TD • Various enemies with different mechanics • Randomly generated maps • Many upgrades and improvements for weapons and equipment • Simple and intuitive controls • No Ads or In-App Purchases Good luck and have fun!

Screenshots

Luminosus4 screens
HackEm4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Luminosus at 71% against HackEm's 25%. Luminosus also leads on rating (4.9 vs 3.6) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 21 months). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Luminosus costs $0.29 and HackEm $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Luminosus holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 5 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Luminosus's written reviews are positive against 25% of HackEm's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Luminosus ships an update fortnightly, HackEm every 21 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Luminosus versus HackEm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLuminosusHackEm
Price$0.29 — better$1.99
Rating4.9 (17 ratings) — better3.6 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings17 — better5
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 21 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size114 MB78 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperShort Circuit StudioGame Dev Team

Customer experience

Luminosus

All ratings17 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%

HackEm

All ratings5 ratings
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

None

Luminosus

No in-app purchases

None

HackEm

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Luminosus free?
Luminosus costs $0.29, with no in-app purchases.
Is HackEm free?
HackEm costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Luminosus or HackEm?
Luminosus is rated higher. Luminosus averages 4.9 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while HackEm averages 3.6 from 5 ratings.
Do Luminosus or HackEm have ads?
Neither Luminosus nor HackEm shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Luminosus or HackEm?
Luminosus ships an update fortnightly, and HackEm every 21 months. Most recently, Luminosus was updated on October 27, 2026 and HackEm on October 15, 2026.

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