Comparison

duk. vs Candle Drop

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

Head to head
About

duk.

A charming puzzle game where you guide a character across lily pads by stepping a specific number of spaces. Solve 80 unique ponds in classic mode or tackle a new daily challenge. Enjoy a relaxing, ad-free experience with no internet or accounts required.

Highlights
  • Numbered lily pad stepping mechanic
  • 80 classic ponds
  • Daily puzzles (easy, medium, hard)
  • Streak tracking for daily play
  • No ads or accounts
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

duk. is a cozy little puzzle about duk trying to reach his friend goose. each lily pad holds a number, so you step exactly that many pads across the water, sinking the one you leave behind, wrapping around the pond's edges, until every pad is gone and you land on goose. 2 ways to play: • classic: a journey through 80 ponds, each named for a real water lily, growing gently harder as you go. • daily: a fresh puzzle every day at easy, medium, or hard. a win on any tier keeps your streak going. no ads. no accounts. no internet required. nothing tracked. made for a calm few minutes, whenever you need them.

About

Candle Drop

Explore a dark castle by dropping candles and strategically lining up their lights to trigger massive explosions and earn points. Discover hidden unlocks, character skins, and achievements in this unique indie puzzle game.

Highlights
  • Candle dropping gameplay
  • Black hole and miniature sun mechanics
  • Castle exploration
  • Character selection and skins
  • In-game achievements and unlocks
  • Strategic light alignment for explosions
Features
Read full description

Candle Drop is a game about candles. But it is also about black holes, miniature suns, castle secrets, and a ton of hidden unlocks and things to discover! Choose your starting candle, drop down into the belly of a dark and moody castle, and drop more candles. Try to get their lights to line up to cause a massive explosion and earn some points! Visit the basement to explore character selection and skins, and go even deeper to chase all of the in-game achievements and unlocks! This game was the first game made by me and my good friend Curtis. It is the manifestation of our love for video games and my personal dream-come-true. Over a year of work and learning how to make it all and we have something new and unique, and something I couldn't be prouder to share with you. One of our biggest focuses was to give the game a soul. No overused mainstream basic graphics or gameplay. No relentless popup ads or in-game pay-to-win purchases. And no corners cut in the makings. We truly made something that we would play ourselves. And I hope you'll take the time to enjoy it, too. Thanks :) Note: Preview images from both iPhone and iPad versions are interchangeable.

Screenshots

duk.4 screens
Candle Drop4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: duk. at none against Candle Drop's shown. duk. also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Candle Drop's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 5 days) and ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, rating 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

duk. ships an update every 5 days, Candle Drop daily. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
duk. versus Candle Drop: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterduk.Candle Drop
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings18 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 daysDaily — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB235 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBetula Noir LLCGAVIN CURTIS LESTER

Customer experience

duk.

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

Candle Drop

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

duk.

No in-app purchases

None

Candle Drop

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is duk. free?
duk. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Candle Drop free?
Candle Drop is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, duk. or Candle Drop?
duk. and Candle Drop are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 8 ratings respectively.
Do duk. or Candle Drop have ads?
Candle Drop shows ads; duk. does not.
Which is updated more often, duk. or Candle Drop?
duk. ships an update every 5 days, and Candle Drop daily. Most recently, duk. was updated on September 30, 2026 and Candle Drop on October 5, 2026.

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