Comparison

KIKARAKU vs Lumos

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

Head to head
About

KIKARAKU

Features
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Geometry that overturns your intuition. KIKARAKU is an educational app that lets you experience counterintuitive geometry with your own hands. Answer with your gut first, move the shapes to check, then work out why it happens using the geometry you learned at school. Developer: Fuji Bit Inc. KIKARAKU is the 11th app in the "-raku" series of educational apps, and its theme is geometry. It covers 14 puzzles that most people get wrong on instinct, and every one of them unfolds in four phases. Four phases: 1. Gut check: Answer with your gut first. Most people get these wrong. 2. Hands-on: Move the shapes with sliders and buttons, and watch your intuition get overturned. 3. Explanation: Familiar tools such as the circumference formula and the Pythagorean theorem turn the surprise into understanding, with diagrams and formulas. 4. Final check: Answer a challenge question to clear the stage. 14 geometry puzzles (3 categories): Shapes in motion - Angle Puzzles (The Sum of Exterior Angles): do the exterior angles of any polygon add up to 360°? - Secrets of Triangles (Napoleon's Theorem): a hidden equilateral triangle in every triangle? - Symmetry & Motion (The Coin Rotation Paradox): roll a coin around an identical one; how many turns? - Circle Theorems (The Rope Around the Earth): add 1 m to a rope around the Earth; how big is the gap? - Constant Width (The Reuleaux Triangle) (new): is the circle the only shape of constant width? Tricks of length and area - Pythagoras (The Missing Square): how can the same pieces seem to gain a square? - Tangram (Same Area, Different Perimeter): same area, very different perimeters? - Area Master (Same Perimeter, Different Area): which shape holds the most area for a fixed string? - Nets (The Spider and the Fly): find the shortest path across a box by unfolding it. - Coordinate Geometry (Taxicab Geometry): measure along city streets, and a circle becomes a square? Numbers hidden in shapes - Similarity & Ratio (The Square-Cube Law): a giant twice as tall weighs eight times as much? - The Golden Ratio (The Golden Angle and Sunflowers): why do sunflowers turn by about 137.5°? - Volume & Surface Area (Gabriel's Horn): a horn you can fill with paint but never paint. - Geometry & Chance (Buffon's Needle) (new): drop needles on a floor and pi appears. Features: - A clean, modern design (switch between dark and light themes) - A home screen by category that records the stages you have cleared - Every stage advances in four phases, and you can always see where you are - If you go back during the final check, the app asks whether to leave the stage - Available in 74 languages, including English and Japanese (follows your device language) - No sign-in; start right away - The puzzles work offline (the network is used only for ads) Great for students learning geometry, teachers looking for classroom material, and anyone who enjoys a mathematical "wait, really?" Price and purchases: - Price: Free - In-app purchases and subscriptions: None - Ads: Banner ads by Pangle at the bottom of the screen, and a full-screen (interstitial) ad may be shown when you clear a stage - Ads are personalized only if you allow tracking. You can turn this off in "About this app" > "Ad settings" The "-raku" series of educational apps (selection): SUUGAKU (mathematics), BUTURAKU (mechanics), DENRAKU (electromagnetism), HARAKU (waves), NETURAKU (thermodynamics), KORAKU (optics), RYURAKU (fluid dynamics), KAKURAKU (probability), KIKARAKU (geometry)

About

Lumos

Features
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Welcome to Lumos—your interactive, hands-on physics laboratory for exploring the fascinating behavior of light. Designed for students and curious minds, Lumos brings complex optical phenomena to life through stunning real-time 3D simulations. Whether you're studying for an exam or just curious about how light behaves, Lumos makes learning physics intuitive, visual, and engaging. KEY FEATURES: • INTERACTIVE OPTICS LAB Experiment with Reflection, Refraction, and Diffraction in real-time. Direct light rays, adjust incident angles, and change wavelengths to see immediate physics in action. • CUSTOM MEDIUMS & SPECTRUMS Change properties like refractive index and surface roughness. See how light behaves as it travels between Air, Water, and Glass. • MASTER PHYSICS WITH QUIZZES Test your understanding with built-in interactive quizzes. Each topic comes with custom diagrams, instant grading, and detailed explanations to help you master concepts. Unravel the mysteries of light and master physics with Lumos today!

Screenshots

KIKARAKU4 screens
Lumos4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Lumos at none against KIKARAKU's shown. KIKARAKU's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.2). On price 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard3 real differences · 3 level
KIKARAKU versus Lumos: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKIKARAKULumos
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFuji Bit Inc.GALGOTIAS UNIVERSITY,SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

In-app purchases

None

KIKARAKU

No in-app purchases

None

Lumos

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is KIKARAKU free?
KIKARAKU is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Lumos free?
Lumos is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do KIKARAKU or Lumos have ads?
KIKARAKU shows ads; Lumos does not.

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