Comparison

Panda Friends vs Hex by Hex

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

Head to head
About

Panda Friends

Care for a virtual panda in a relaxing pixel art world. Engage in simple gameplay, learn about wildlife, and enjoy a lofi soundtrack. Features augmented reality to bring your panda into the real world.

Highlights
  • Virtual panda care
  • Relaxing pixel art world
  • Augmented reality features
  • Wildlife facts and biomes
  • Lofi ambient soundtrack
  • Mini-games and utilities
Features
Read full description

Your Panda Core escape. Meet your new friend in a peaceful pixel art world where you can relax, play, and learn about wildlife. GAMEPLAY A virtual pet app about finding calm moments in your day: • Drop food for your panda and invite companions to play • No timers or complex mechanics — just check in once or twice a day • Track your progress and compete worldwide Perfect for study sessions, work breaks, or winding down before bed. Everything syncs via iCloud across all your devices. POCKET PANDA AR Take your panda beyond the screen and into the real world: • Place your panda on any flat surface using your camera • Record videos and capture photos to share • Save memories with location tags and watermarks DISCOVER Learn about wildlife while you play: • Explore 4 biomes: Forest, Ocean, Polar, and Savanna • Fun facts about real animals and conservation • Beautiful, non-AI photography from around the world COMPANIONS & SCENES Your panda's world is full of friends and places to explore: • Unique animal companions to meet and play with • Handcrafted pixel art scenes to discover • Watch them interact, laugh, and enjoy life together ARCADE & UTILITIES Mini-games for when you want a little action, and utilities for staying productive: • Arcade games with global leaderboards • Zen Match, Journal, Pomodoro Timer, Meditation, and more • Earn rewards to keep your panda happy MUSIC & ATMOSPHERE The lofi soundtrack shuffles continuously: • Creates an ambient backdrop for focus or relaxation • Transitions smoothly between tracks without interruption • Can play for hours without thinking about it Made in collaboration with real artists.

About

Hex by Hex

Features
Read full description

Conquer a hex map in about five minutes. Hex by Hex is a fast territory conquest strategy game: grow from a single tile into an empire before rival AI factions box you in. Every run is a fresh map. Claim neighboring hexes, build farms, lumber mills, and iron mines, turn your harvest into coins, and push across the border before the Tide clock runs out. HOW A RUN PLAYS - Start with one tile and a five minute Tide clock. - Claim adjacent hexes to expand. Forests, plains, and mountains feed your wood, food, and iron. - Balance your resources to mint coins, then spend them on new tile slots and Edicts. - Raid contested border tiles, grab prize tiles, and hold the chokepoints. - Win by domination, or get swallowed when the Tide rises. FEATURES - Fast strategy: a complete war in about five minutes, with no waiting. - Real-time AI rivals, each with its own name, color, and sigil. - Three one-shot Edicts: Conscript, Blitz, and Sabotage. - Coin market: convert resources by hand or on auto. - Daily Tide: one shared map each day with a Game Center leaderboard. - Seed duels: send a friend a link to play the exact same map. - Pinch to zoom and pan across the whole battlefield. - No ads. No energy meters. No waiting timers. FREE TO PLAY, ONE-TIME FULL UNLOCK Play the Skirmish map on Easy and Medium with the Conscript edict for free. The Full Unlock is a single purchase that adds: - Every map size, from the 37-tile Skirmish up to the 127-tile Large map with up to six AI rivals. - Hard and Brutal difficulty. - Team Mode: 2v2 and 3v3 battles with AI allies. - All three Edicts. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Panda Friends4 screens
Hex by Hex4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Panda Friends at every 9 days against Hex by Hex's every 3 months. Panda Friends also leads on ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Panda Friends sells 13 one-off in-app purchases and Hex by Hex sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Panda Friends against 5.0 for Hex by Hex. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Panda Friends has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Panda Friends ships an update every 9 days, Hex by Hex every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Panda Friends versus Hex by Hex: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPanda FriendsHex by Hex
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size99 MB3 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperMax MarquardtIndieCraft LLC

Customer experience

Panda Friends

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Hex by Hex

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

13 purchases

Panda Friends

One-time13
  • Axolotl$0.99
  • Hedgehog$0.99
  • Brown Kitten$0.99
Show 10 more
  • Orange Fox$1.99
  • Arctic Fox$1.99
  • Bunny$1.99
  • Buck$2.99
  • Doe$2.99
  • German Shepherd$2.99
  • The Tetons$3.99
  • 50's Noir$3.99
  • Kawaii City Scene$3.99
  • Super Food Unlimited$4.99
1 purchases

Hex by Hex

One-time1
  • Unlock Full Game$4.99

Questions

Is Panda Friends free?
Panda Friends is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hex by Hex free?
Hex by Hex is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Panda Friends or Hex by Hex?
Hex by Hex is rated higher. Panda Friends averages 4.9 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Hex by Hex averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Panda Friends or Hex by Hex have ads?
Neither Panda Friends nor Hex by Hex shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Panda Friends or Hex by Hex?
Panda Friends ships an update every 9 days, and Hex by Hex every 3 months. Most recently, Panda Friends was updated on October 13, 2026 and Hex by Hex on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons