Comparison

About Love and Hate vs SHI

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

Head to head
About

About Love and Hate

Guide two charming characters through a series of clever puzzles to reunite them with their beloved. Explore diverse worlds and overcome unique challenges in this acclaimed puzzler.

Highlights
  • 70+ handcrafted levels
  • Unique graphics
  • Outstanding music and sounds
  • 6 'other ones' with unique abilities
  • 4 different worlds to explore
  • Easy-to-learn touch controls
Features
Read full description

* no.1 puzzler in 45 countries * * winner of the german computergames award 2012! * "A surprisingly sophisticated, charming game." Jury German Computergames Award "In conclusion, About Love, Hate and the Other Ones is one of the best puzzle games in the market for portable devices of Apple." GameOver.gr "...it provides a clever and fairly unique series of special-relation riddles that make time melt away." 148Apps "Lovingly crafted pencil crayon-like visuals. Surprisingly expressive characterizations for a game about blobs." Gamezebo Slip into the role of Love and Hate in this fun and challenging puzzle game. Help the cute main characters to get back to their beloved hill. Master all of the 70 levels, encounter diverse other ones and find out how they respond to Love and Hate. The game features easy to learn touch controls, specifically designed for the iPhone and iPad. Plus, lovely music and sounds, all tailor-made for the game. Features: • unique graphics • outstanding music and sounds • 80 handcrafted levels • 6 "other ones" with unique abilities • 4 different worlds to explore

About

SHI

Engage with stories from early Japan by solving intricate puzzles on a beautifully designed lacquer box. Journey through ancient tales, uncover hidden meanings, and experience the art of Japanese lacquerware.

Highlights
  • Challenging lacquer box puzzles
  • Engaging ancient Japanese stories
  • Beautiful Japanese lacquerware design
  • Japanese language learning elements
  • Taiko drum soundscapes
Features
Read full description

Solve challenging puzzles on a beautiful Japanese lacquer box and engage with stories based in early Japan: In the beginning, so the Kojiki tells, sea was sky and sky was sea. Journey towards calmness while rotating a lacquer box, puzzle by puzzle, word by word, further in time. In SHI•RO you reconcile past and present with empress Gemmei, travel through dark forests to invite spirits to the shrine of old Yoshida, and climb Mount Inari with a fox. PLAY AN ENGAGING STORY SHI•RO tells the story of an ancient empress, a lost love and a blossoming friendship. Based on the first Japanese writing, the Kojiki, you engage with an emerging world. SOLVE CHALLENGING PUZZLES Over 60 handmade puzzles challenge you along the journey of empress Gemmei. Think out of the box while playing on a lacquer box! Will you help the empress to separate the sea from the sky? ENJOY A BEAUTIFUL DESIGN SHI•RO celebrates the beauty of Japanese lacquerware by transforming your device into a lacquer box. Gold and silver shimmer in your hands while you unriddle complex geometries and find stories of depth beyond the surface. LISTEN TO THE SOUND OF JAPAN By solving puzzles, you hear words of Japanese language, or as a native speaker of Japanese, learn words in English. Japanese Taiko drums will guide your way. ENTER THE SHI•RO UNIVERSE By purchasing SHI•RO, you get access to the complete first part, KURO. But more is in the making! Once we release the second part MIDORI and the third part AKA, you will be able to purchase them in-game and continue your journey.

Screenshots

About Love and Hate4 screens
SHI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SHI at 4.6 against About Love and Hate's 4.2. SHI also leads on ratings volume (215 vs 34) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 13.0). About Love and Hate's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 68%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On price, 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

About Love and Hate costs $2.99 and SHI $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SHI holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SHI has 215 ratings behind it against 34, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 85% of About Love and Hate's written reviews are positive against 68% of SHI's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

About Love and Hate ships an update monthly, SHI every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
About Love and Hate versus SHI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAbout Love and HateSHI
Price$2.99$2.99
Rating4.2 (34 ratings)4.6 (215 ratings) — better
Positive reviews84.8% of reviews — better68.3% of reviews
Number of ratings34215 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB181 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperBlack Pants Studio GmbHthe brothers grimm

Customer experience

About Love and Hate

All ratings34 ratings
Positive79.4%
Neutral2.9%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews656 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral4.3%
Negative11.0%

SHI

All ratings215 ratings
Positive90.7%
Neutral4.7%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive68.3%
Neutral12.2%
Negative19.5%

User reviews

About Love and Hate

From 34 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun game
  • 🎨 Lovely graphics
  • 🧠 Challenging puzzles
  • 🕹️ Intuitive gameplay
  • 💎 Great value for money

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Game doesn't save progress
  • 🐛 Game crashes on startup
  • 🔍 Lack of iPhone 5 support
  • 🔇 Repetitive audio

SHI

From 215 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Beautiful graphics and art
  • 🎧 Soothing sound design
  • 🧠 Engaging and challenging puzzles
  • 📚 Interesting story and lore
  • 🇯🇵 Japanese mythology and language integration

Room to improve

  • 😩 Puzzles become frustrating
  • ❓ Lack of clear instructions
  • 😴 Gameplay can be boring
  • 📉 Too simple and limited
  • ⏳ Not enough content

Bugs and requests

About Love and Hate

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game freezes on certain levels
  • Levels not loading properly
  • Inconsistent save functionality

Requested features

4 requests
  • More levels
  • Ability to reset progress
  • Game Center integration
  • Difficulty options

SHI

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Cannot find a way to reset the game
  • Error with game purchase
  • Parts don't seem to work
  • Game enforces arbitrary move order
  • Confusing UI, need clearer restart/reset options

Requested features

6 requests
  • More levels/stories
  • Ability to reset the game
  • Landscape view option for iPad
  • Daily puzzles
  • More instructions/tutorial
Show 1 more
  • Option to go back one move

In-app purchases

None

About Love and Hate

No in-app purchases

None

SHI

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is About Love and Hate free?
About Love and Hate costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is SHI free?
SHI costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, About Love and Hate or SHI?
SHI is rated higher. About Love and Hate averages 4.2 out of 5 from 34 ratings, while SHI averages 4.6 from 215 ratings.
Do About Love and Hate or SHI have ads?
Neither About Love and Hate nor SHI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, About Love and Hate or SHI?
About Love and Hate ships an update monthly, and SHI every 2 months. Most recently, About Love and Hate was updated on November 1, 2026 and SHI on October 26, 2026.

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