HollowLight vs Pixel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HollowLight
Guide a small spirit to push back encroaching darkness in procedurally generated dungeons. Collect gear and upgrades to customize your playstyle and defend your forest home. The challenge grows even when you're offline.
- Procedurally generated dungeons
- Dynamic traps and enemies
- Gear and upgrade collection
- Playstyle customization
- Offline play
- Character progression
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The Darkness is Coming. Your Light, the Only Thing it Fears. As The Tide of Darkness and Destruction Spreads, the Nurnen Forest Fades, its Ancient Light Waning. You—One Tiny, Radiant Orblit— are CHOSEN to Carry the Torch and Push Back the Gloom! > Become Brody, a Spirit of The Forest! An Unlikely Hero, and Master of Last-Second Dodges, With a Destiny Far Larger than His Size. > Conquer Ever‑Shifting Dungeons! Explore Procedural Labyrinths Filled with Dynamic Traps, Secrets, and Abominations Born of Shadow. No Two Runs Feel the Same. > Claim New Gear and Rise With Every Run! Discover Weapons, Armour, Sidekicks, Upgrades, and Precious Supplies to Shape YOUR own Playstyle. > Defend the Nurnen Forest! Fight to Protect what Remains of your Home and its Villagers, Man & Beast, Hopelessly Clinging to the Light. > The Darkness Never Sleeps! Even Offline, the World Shifts and the Threat Grows. Return to find New Dangers—and New Opportunities. *Developers Note* - Created Solo with a Lot of Love (and coffee). Thank you for Keeping Indie Dev Burning Bright!
Pixel
Experience a vast collection of 170 retro-style arcade games in a single application. Enjoy diverse genres like action, sports, puzzles, and card games, all playable offline with simple touch controls and smooth performance. New games are added regularly through free updates.
- 170 bite-sized pixel-art games
- Playable offline, no internet required
- Variety of genres: action, sports, puzzles, cards
- Simple touch controls
- Smooth 60fps performance
- New games added via free updates
- Local multiplayer support
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Pixel Pack is a love letter to the arcade. A single app packed with 270+ bite-sized pixel-art games you can pick up and play in seconds. Choose a cartridge from the launcher, drop in, play. No downloads between games, no internet required. Everything runs offline, right on your phone, and plenty of games support local multiplayer on a shared screen. WHAT YOU GET A genuinely huge variety across every genre in tiny-bit size: Arcade and action — dodge, blast, dash, and survive in Star Fury, Astral Drift, Neon Arena, Dragon Soar, Void Eater, Vektor Rush, and Blade Dance. Racing and speed — Astro Racing, Rad Highway, Turbo Trail, Chicken Race, Ramp Rider, and Ski Free. 3D worlds — Mecha Spider, Parkour Run, Pixel Cube, Armadillo Dreams, Ball Strike 3D, and Paper Toss 3D. Sports and trick runs — Air Hockey, Mini Golf, Pixel Baseball, Foosball, Bowl Bash, Sumo, Pool, Star Kick, and Shuffleboard. Brain and board — 3D Picross, Pixel Sudoku, Arcane Chess, Backgammon, Checkers, Reversi, Mancala, Chinese Checkers, Minesweeper, and Hexis. Word and trivia — Word Search, Wordhive, Hangman, Trivia Roulette, and What Am I. Puzzle and merge — Melon Merge, Fuse Frenzy, Block Bash, Bubble Lagoon, Crystal Clash, Fluid Sort, and Threadweave. Cards and table games — Picture Poker, Spidey Solitaire, Wildcard Wanted, Pachinko, Shadow Deal, and Left Center Right (just for fun — no real wagering). Reflex and timing — Dont Drop It, Dont Tap, Hat Stack, Rope Skipper, Quick Claw, Balloon Blast, and Rapid Rabbits. Creative and calm — Pixel Canvas, Zen Garden, Bonsai Shapes, Pixel Masterpiece, Scene Builder, and Lull. Toys and oddities — Pixel Camera turns your world into live pixel art, Compass points you north, and Chatterbird and Prismwave react to sound around you. ...and a whole lot more waiting in the launcher. DESIGNED TO FEEL GOOD Crisp pixel art at every size, no blurry scaling. Smooth 60fps action. Simple touch controls that actually work. Every game is tuned to be easy to start and easy to put down. PLAY YOUR WAY Pick up for thirty seconds in a checkout line, or sink into a high-score chase on the couch. Your best scores save right on your device. There is always another game one tap away. NO STRINGS ATTACHED No ads. No pop-ups. No accounts or logins. Just games. GROWING OVER TIME New games arrive in free updates, so the collection keeps getting bigger. One tap, and over two hundred ways to play. Welcome to Pixel Pack.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: HollowLight at Free against Pixel's $1.99. Pixel's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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
HollowLight is free to download; Pixel costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HollowLight ships an update every 3 months, Pixel every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HollowLight | Pixel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 284 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Adam Hutchinson | Cameron Burke |
Customer experience
HollowLight
Pixel
In-app purchases
HollowLight
No in-app purchases
Pixel
No in-app purchases









