Lights Off vs PiKuBo
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lights Off
A classic puzzle game where the objective is to turn off all the lights to advance. Enjoy smooth animations, sound effects, and beautiful artwork in this engaging time-killer.
- Turn off all lights to win
- Progress through stages
- Smooth animations
- Sound effects
- Beautiful artwork
Read full descriptionHide full description
The classic game inspired by Tiger Electronic's 'Lights Out' is back for the App Store and better than ever! Lights Off is a simple game in which the goal is to turn all the lights off to progress to the next stage. Featuring smooth animations, sound effects and beautiful artwork, Lights Off is the perfect way to kill some time and see how far you can get. Spiritual successor to the original Lights Off game by Lucas Newman and Adam Betts, 'Lights Off' is completely built from scratch with a brand new engine and more of Adam's great artwork.
PiKuBo
Engage in a unique 3D puzzle game where you reveal shapes by strategically removing blocks from a cube. Enjoy hundreds of logic-based puzzles with adaptive controls and soothing music. Unlock more challenges through in-app purchases.
- Hundreds of 3D nonogram puzzles
- Logic-based solving, no guesswork
- Adaptive one-handed controls
- Customizable markers with four colors
- Soothing bossa nova background music
- Portrait and landscape viewing modes
- Family sharing for level packs
Read full descriptionHide full description
Dive into the delightful world of PiKuBo, a captivating puzzle game that brings the excitement of cubic nonograms to your iOS device. With a unique twist on a beloved classic, PiKuBo challenges you to carve out shapes from a larger cube by removing unnecessary blocks. You can think of it as a 3D Minesweeper. • Interactive Puzzle Fun: Engage with over 500 puzzles, each offering a cute shape to uncover. • Adaptive Controls: Whether you’re right-handed or left-handed, our controls are designed for easy, one-handed play. • Progress at Your Pace: Save your progress effortlessly and return to solve puzzles whenever it suits you. • No Guesswork Needed: All puzzles are solvable through logic alone—perfect for puzzle purists! • Customizable Markers: Use up to four paint colors to mark and manage your strategy without losing track of your solution. • Immersive Experience: Enjoy soothing bossa nova tunes that enhance your puzzle-solving ambiance, whether at home or on the go. • Flexible Viewing: Choose between portrait or landscape modes to suit your play style. • Shared Fun: Purchase level packs once and share them with your entire family group. • Visual Rewards: Relish the thumbnails of completed puzzles, a colorful testament to your puzzle prowess. Whether you have a few minutes or a few hours, PiKuBo is the perfect game to relax and test your brain. Start solving today! NOTE: The first pack, which consists of 31 puzzles and 5 tutorials, is provided for free. The rest of the packs are available as in-app purchases within the game.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: PiKuBo at every 5 weeks against Lights Off's every 5 months. PiKuBo also leads on review sentiment (87% vs 72%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Lights Off sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and PiKuBo sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Lights Off against 4.6 for PiKuBo. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 38 and 95 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 72% of Lights Off's written reviews are positive against 87% of PiKuBo's.
Lights Off ships an update every 5 months, PiKuBo every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Lights Off | PiKuBo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (38 ratings) | 4.6 (95 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.4% of reviews | 86.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 38 | 95 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 97 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Steven Troughton-Smith | Daniel Benito |
Customer experience
Lights Off
PiKuBo
User reviews
Lights Off
From 38 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🤩 Highly addictive gameplay
- 👍 Simple and fun
- ✨ Great graphics and design
- 🕰️ Excellent time killer
- 💖 Nostalgic for original fans
Room to improve
- 💸 Paid version limitations
- 👎 Inconsistent touch registration
- 🔄 Repetitive levels
- ⏳ Resetting takes too long
- 🕹️ Buttons not working correctly
PiKuBo
From 95 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Innovative 3D nonogram puzzle concept
- 🎮 Engaging and addictive gameplay
- 👍 Intuitive and well-designed user interface
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics and visual presentation
- 💰 Affordable pricing for puzzle packs ($0.99 each)
Room to improve
- ⏱️ Timer system feels rushed and stressful
- ❤️ Heart/lives system frustrating for some players
- 🐛 Occasional accidental block touches
- 🔧 Controls reset when rotating puzzle
- 💸 Pricing model requires multiple purchases for full content
Bugs and requests
Lights Off
Reported bugs
9 issues- Touchscreen misalignment
- Buttons not working
- App crashes on launch
- Level selector not working
- Game stops working after beating all levels
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- GUI sluggish and doesn't register taps
- Not toggling all sides
- Incompatible with iPhone XS Max
- Level 213 issue
Requested features
8 requests- Add more levels
- Native iPad version
- Color options
- Hint button
- Level selector improvements
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Replay function
- Tutorial
- Dark mode
PiKuBo
Reported bugs
7 issues- In-app purchase error preventing pack purchases
- Purchase not received after payment
- Support email bouncing back
- Color contrast issue in Pack 12 (blue on blue)
- Inability to expose enough blocks at certain angles for decision-making
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Mark/delete button deactivates when rotating puzzle
- Cooldown timer on mark/delete buttons causes frustration
Requested features
15 requests- More puzzle packs released more frequently
- Undo button for accidental moves
- Save progress mid-puzzle
- Ability to move puzzle around (pan feature)
- Full 360-degree rotation capability
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- Bundle purchase option for all puzzle packs at discount
- Larger puzzles optimized for iPad
- Difficulty-specific puzzle packs (all expert level)
- Remove or improve timer system
- Remove or improve heart/lives system
- Persistent mark/delete selection across rotations
- Three-state axis selector for slider control
- Double-tap to start puzzle instead of GO button
- Flatten rate option to purchase all future content
- Webpage explaining all settings and features
In-app purchases
Lights Off
- Lights Off (Essentials)$0.99
PiKuBo
- Puzzle Pack 02$0.99
- Puzzle Pack 03$0.99
- Puzzle Pack 11$0.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Puzzle Pack 10$0.99
- Puzzle Pack 09$0.99
- Puzzle Pack 08$0.99
- Puzzle Pack 07$0.99
- Puzzle Pack 06$0.99
- Puzzle Pack 05$0.99
- Puzzle Pack 04$0.99
