Comparison

Nihilumbra vs Boxville

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

Head to head
About

Nihilumbra

Embark on an adventure to discover a beautiful world and escape an inevitable curse. Learn to use colors to gain abilities and transform your surroundings while being pursued by an ancient force. This game offers over 10 hours of gameplay with a unique story and challenging mechanics.

Highlights
  • Over 10 hours of gameplay
  • Classic gameplay redesigned for touch devices
  • Change ground physics with five colors
  • Transform five unique worlds
  • Two control schemes: buttons or tilt
  • Original soundtrack
  • Unlockable surprise and replayability
Features
Read full description

*** Apple's Best of 2012 Hidden Gems *** Has to be be downloaded over a Wi-Fi connection. Discover the beautiful world of Nihilumbra and join Born on his adventure to find himself whilst trying to escape from his inevitable curse. Born was created from the absolute nothingness: The Void. But somehow he separates himself from the black emptiness and appears in the world. This is where his long odyssey begins, in which he will learn how to use the colors around him to gain powerful abilities and transform the world. However, his experiences come at a high price. The Void must be one. It seeks to reclaim him and will never stop chasing him, destroying everything in its path along the way. To survive, Born will have to condemn the earth he walks to its inevitable obliteration by The Void... FEATURES: - More than 10 hours of gameplay. - “Old school” playability inspired by classic games but redesigned for tactile devices. - The ability to change ground physics using five different colors. - Use five worlds as your canvas and transform them at your will. - Two different control schemes: Classic buttons or tilting sensor. - Original soundtrack composed by Álvaro Lafuente. Headphones recommended. - Unlockable surprise on completion of the game. Replayability assured.

About

Boxville

This animated adventure puzzle game features speechless cans navigating a city of boxes. Solve logic puzzles and riddles, explore a charming world, and uncover the mystery behind earthquakes. Enjoy a unique audio-visual experience, playable solo or with a friend.

Highlights
  • Animated film and puzzle game hybrid
  • Hand-drawn graphics and custom animations
  • Environmental quests and logical puzzles
  • Unique music for each scene
  • Wordless communication via speech bubbles
  • Playable solo or co-op
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Boxville is 2-in-1: an animated film and a puzzle game. Boxville is an adventure puzzle game about speechless cans living in the city of boxes and drawing doodles on cardboards to tell the stories. Boxville is good for playing alone to dive into the atmosphere and challenge your brain with sophisticated logic puzzles and riddles, or playing with a friend or family to share unique audio-visual experiences and solve the puzzles together. Design The core idea of the game is that it’s not just a game - but also an animated film that you can watch and play at the same time. We designed Boxville’s gameplay with the purpose of taking away your anxiety and stress. You can explore and observe the world without rushing and pressure. The game is full of environmental quests and logical puzzles that we have carefully picked from among hundreds of options. Story Boxville is a city of boxes populated with old cans. They live quiet and happy lives with their everyday routines and habits. But one day, unexplained earthquakes disturbed their idyll... Blue Can (our hero) lost his best friend because of that. He started his search but it is not so easy to move through the city after earthquakes. He has to find a way to move forward, return the friend back home and discover the real reason for all those earthquakes. There are many adventures, new friends and it’s not only friends that are waiting for him on the way. He has to be curious, inventive, careful, and to help others, to reach his goal. What you can expect to see and hear in Boxville: - Hand-drawn graphics — all backgrounds and characters are carefully drawn by our artists. - Every animation and sound is created especially for each interaction. - Unique music track was created for every scene to accomplish the atmosphere of the game. - Tens of logical puzzles and mini-games are tightly incorporated into the story of the game. - There are no words in the game — all characters communicate via cartoony speechbubbles.

Screenshots

Nihilumbra4 screens
Boxville4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Boxville at every 9 days against Nihilumbra's every 2 months. Boxville also leads on chart position (#160 vs unranked) and ratings volume (773 vs 108). Nihilumbra's advantage is review sentiment (88% vs 78%) and price ($2.99 vs $3.99). On rating, 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

Nihilumbra costs $2.99 and Boxville $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Nihilumbra against 4.7 for Boxville. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Boxville has 773 ratings behind it against 108, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 88% of Nihilumbra's written reviews are positive against 78% of Boxville's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nihilumbra ships an update every 2 months, Boxville every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Nihilumbra versus Boxville: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNihilumbraBoxville
Price$2.99 — better$3.99
Rating4.7 (108 ratings) — better4.7 (773 ratings)
Positive reviews87.7% of reviews — better78.3% of reviews
Number of ratings108773 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#160 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS5.1.1 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size665 MB1.2 GB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperBEAUTIFUN GAMES SLTriomatica Games

Customer experience

Nihilumbra

All ratings104 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral4.8%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews430 reviews
Positive87.7%
Neutral4.4%
Negative7.9%

Boxville

All ratings755 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral2.9%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews226 reviews
Positive78.3%
Neutral8.0%
Negative13.7%

User reviews

Nihilumbra

From 108 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Beautiful game
  • 👍 Engaging story
  • 👍 Innovative gameplay
  • 👍 Challenging puzzles
  • 👍 Atmospheric music

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and glitches
  • 🐛 Controls issues
  • 🐛 Lack of iPhone 5/X support
  • 🔋 High battery consumption

Boxville

From 773 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Enjoyable puzzles
  • 🎨 Beautiful art and animation
  • 🎶 Lovely music
  • 🧠 Challenging but logical puzzles
  • 🤗 Charming characters and story

Room to improve

  • 🕰️ Short game length
  • 🔍 Tiny inventory items hard to see
  • 🤯 Some puzzles too obscure
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🤖 Lack of hint system or ability to skip puzzles

Bugs and requests

Nihilumbra

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on certain levels
  • Unresponsive controls in intense moments
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

3 requests
  • Update with more levels and content
  • Sequel or additional games from the developer
  • Improved controls and customization options

Boxville

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Progress reset after updates
  • Inventory items disappearing
  • Puzzle mechanics not working as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Longer game with more content
  • Ability to use stylus/Apple Pencil
  • Improved save/load system
  • In-game hints or ability to skip puzzles

In-app purchases

None

Nihilumbra

No in-app purchases

None

Boxville

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Nihilumbra free?
Nihilumbra costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Boxville free?
Boxville costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Nihilumbra or Boxville?
Nihilumbra is rated higher. Nihilumbra averages 4.7 out of 5 from 108 ratings, while Boxville averages 4.7 from 773 ratings.
Do Nihilumbra or Boxville have ads?
Neither Nihilumbra nor Boxville shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nihilumbra or Boxville?
Nihilumbra ships an update every 2 months, and Boxville every 9 days. Most recently, Nihilumbra was updated on November 1, 2026 and Boxville on October 30, 2026.

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