Comparison

Lightbot vs Human Resource Machine

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

Head to head
About

Lightbot

This game teaches programming logic through engaging puzzles. Players guide a robot using commands to solve levels, fostering an understanding of procedures, loops, and conditionals. It's an excellent introduction to coding for kids and puzzle enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • Programming logic puzzles
  • Robot guidance with commands
  • Teaches procedures, loops, conditionals
  • 50 levels and 20 challenge stars
  • Multiplayer progress tracking
  • Multiple language support
Features
Read full description

Featured by Apple in over 100 countries *Best New Apps and Games* *Best for Learning to Code* *Best in Hot Educational Games* Get kids hooked on coding within minutes! Lightbot is a programming puzzle game- a game whose game mechanics require using programming logic to solve levels. Simply guiding a robot to light up tiles and solve levels using commands, Lightbot cultivates a real understanding of procedures, loops, and conditionals. Educators around the world are choosing to use Lightbot first when introducing their students to programming, coding and Computer Science. Lightbot features 50 levels and 20 challenge stars to collect and is a must-have for puzzle enthusiasts. This version of Lightbot can be played in English, French, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Norwegian, Slovenian, Romanian, Indonesian, German, Polish, Danish, Croatian, Dutch, Slovak, Czech, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Thai, Hindi, Swedish, Finnish and Hungarian! Just hit the associated flag icon on the main screen to select a language. Lightbot features multiple save slots and separate progress tracking for multiple players. Multiple players can advance at their own pace in their own save slot, and also compete on number of levels finished, number of stars collected and number of overall commands used to complete the game. There are NO in-app purchases in Lightbot.

About

Human Resource Machine

Solve puzzles by programming office workers to automate tasks. Progress through levels by successfully completing jobs and getting promoted. This game makes programming accessible and fun for everyone, even those new to coding.

Highlights
  • Program office workers
  • Solve logic puzzles
  • Automate tasks
  • Progress through levels
  • Learn programming concepts
  • Extra challenges for experts
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Program little office workers to solve puzzles. Be a good employee! The machines are coming... for your job. - Included in the 'App Store Best of 2016'. - A worldwide App Store Editors’ Choice. - Winner of Excellence in Innovation by the International Mobile Gaming Awards. Human Resource Machine is a puzzle game for nerds. In each level, your boss gives you a job. Automate it by programming your little office worker. If you succeed, you'll be promoted up to the next level for another year of work in the vast office building. Congratulations! Don't worry if you've never programmed before - programming is just puzzle solving. If you strip away all the 1's and 0's and scary squiggly brackets, programming is simple, logical, beautiful, and something that anyone can understand and have fun with! Are you already an expert? There will be extra challenges for you. From the creators of World of Goo and Little Inferno. Have fun! Management is watching. REVIEWS: “Amidst the trend of instant gratification that the internet and gaming as a whole has perpetuated, having a game that both excels in its puzzles and also challenges your wider perception of it is commendable, and makes Human Resource Machine exponentially essential.” - Touch Arcade 5/5 “Sometimes a game catches you by surprise. Be it with its ingenuity, its style, or its sense of humor. Other times a game catches you with all three, like Human Resource Machine.” - Gamezebo 9/10 "Human Resource Machine Could Be The App Of The Year” - Mobile n’ Apps

Screenshots

Lightbot4 screens
Human Resource Machine4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Human Resource Machine at 416 against Lightbot's 38. Human Resource Machine also leads on chart position (#78 vs unranked). Lightbot's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $4.99) and iOS requirement (5.1.1 vs 8.0). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Lightbot costs $2.99 and Human Resource Machine $4.99 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 — 4.5 for Lightbot against 4.5 for Human Resource Machine. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Human Resource Machine has 416 ratings behind it against 38, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of Lightbot's written reviews are positive against 80% of Human Resource Machine's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lightbot ships an update every 2 months, Human Resource Machine every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Lightbot versus Human Resource Machine: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLightbotHuman Resource Machine
Price$2.99 — better$4.99
Rating4.5 (38 ratings)4.5 (416 ratings)
Positive reviews84.7% of reviews — better80.1% of reviews
Number of ratings38416 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#78 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS5.1.1 — better8.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB133 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperSpriteBox LLCExperimental Gameplay Group

Customer experience

Lightbot

All ratings38 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral2.6%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews118 reviews
Positive84.7%
Neutral5.1%
Negative10.2%

Human Resource Machine

All ratings416 ratings
Positive85.1%
Neutral6.7%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews387 reviews
Positive80.1%
Neutral7.8%
Negative12.1%

User reviews

Lightbot

From 38 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for learning programming
  • 💡 Fun and engaging gameplay
  • 🧠 Thought-provoking puzzles
  • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Good for kids and adults
  • ✨ Well-designed and polished

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • ⏳ Game is too short
  • ❌ Difficulty spikes
  • 🎧 Cannot listen to music while playing
  • 🐞 Some levels have bugs

Human Resource Machine

From 416 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Challenging puzzles
  • 👍 Engaging gameplay
  • 💡 Teaches programming concepts
  • 🎨 Quirky visuals and humor

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs in certain levels
  • 🔁 Repetitive gameplay
  • 🔇 No option to play own music
  • 🔀 Issues with screen rotation

Bugs and requests

Lightbot

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • App crashes on open/startup
  • App crashes during gameplay/levels
  • Conditional level 2 bug
  • Play button covers code in Conditional level
  • Not loading due to iOS version
Show 2 more
  • English levels not working on iPod 4th gen
  • Crashing on 4th gen iPod/iPad

Requested features

8 requests
  • More levels
  • Puzzle editor/user-created levels
  • Hint system
  • Ability to listen to music while playing
  • Unlockable content/robot customization
Show 3 more
  • More reward for completing challenges
  • More levels to reinforce concepts
  • Solutions page

Human Resource Machine

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Level 20 expecting incorrect output
  • Scrolling issues causing commands to move
  • Crashing on iOS 14 update

Requested features

3 requests
  • More levels and challenges
  • Ability to save progress across devices
  • Hints or solution guides for stuck players

In-app purchases

None

Lightbot

No in-app purchases

None

Human Resource Machine

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lightbot free?
Lightbot costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Human Resource Machine free?
Human Resource Machine costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lightbot or Human Resource Machine?
Lightbot and Human Resource Machine are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 38 and 416 ratings respectively.
Do Lightbot or Human Resource Machine have ads?
Neither Lightbot nor Human Resource Machine shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lightbot or Human Resource Machine?
Lightbot ships an update every 2 months, and Human Resource Machine every 5 weeks. Most recently, Lightbot was updated on September 25, 2026 and Human Resource Machine on September 24, 2026.

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