Saku vs Shadepix
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Saku
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Saku is the calm, honest nonogram โ a picture-logic puzzle (also called Picture Cross or Griddlers) with none of the noise. No lives, no energy, no timers. Every puzzle is uniquely solvable by pure logic โ never by guessing โ so a solve always feels earned, and the hidden picture blooms when you finish. โข Five sizes, from a quick 5ร5 to a deep 20ร20 โข A Daily puzzle โ the same one for everyone, worldwide โข True-black OLED night mode, gentle on tired eyes โข Tactile fill-and-cross with soft haptics โข A kind hint that only ever reveals a logically forced move โข Puzzles play offline. No account. Only the ads need a connection. One quiet Studio Unlock โ paid once, yours forever โ opens extra ink-and-paper palettes, removes the ads, and supports a tiny independent studio. The puzzles stay free. Made with care by Erek Studio.
Shadepix
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Fill the squares, reveal the picture. Shadepix is a classic nonogram (picross) game with a calm dark board, one-finger drag painting, and pictures worth finishing. Every number tells you the length of a run of filled squares โ read the clues, mark what must stay empty, and a hidden pixel picture appears. A DAILY PUZZLE FOR EVERYONE One puzzle a day, the same board for every player in the world, generated from the calendar date itself โ no server required. The daily is how you earn diamonds: it pays more for every consecutive day, and every seventh day of a streak refills your energy for free. 330 HAND-DRAWN PICTURES Ten picture packs โ Starter, Animals, Everyday Icons, Food, Space, Music, Vehicles, Sports, Nature and Weather โ plus five advanced packs: Landmarks, Dinosaurs, Mythical Creatures, Deep Sea and Retro Tech, where one giant 20x20 picture is solved as four boards in a row. STAGES, ONE PICTURE AT A TIME Every pack is a 30-stage journey: clear a stage to open the next. Boards grow from quick 5x5 warm-ups to 15x15, and the advanced packs push to 20x20 โ pinch to zoom on the big ones. MISTAKES CANNOT RUIN THE PICTURE A wrongly filled square is corrected to an ร for you, so the picture never comes out wrong. But three mistakes end the board: continue for 60 diamonds, or start over for free. MEDALS AND LEADERBOARDS Bronze, silver and gold medals for pictures solved, packs completed, daily streaks and flawless clears โ earned as Game Center achievements, with worldwide leaderboards for pictures solved and best streak. ENERGY INSTEAD OF ADS Starting a puzzle costs 1 energy from a bar of 5, and the bar refills on its own, one point every 15 minutes. The Daily never costs energy, and replaying a picture you have already solved is free. If you would rather not wait, a full refill costs 100 diamonds. BUILT TO BE PLEASANT - Drag across a row or column to fill several squares at once - Haptic feedback you can switch off - Works completely offline, on a plane or underground - Fully localized in 30 languages NO ADS. EVER. No banners, no interstitials, no rewarded video, no account, no tracking. Diamonds come from the daily puzzle, and optional diamond packs exist only if you want hints, unlocks or a refill sooner.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Shadepix at none against Saku's shown. Saku's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Saku sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Shadepix sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Saku | Shadepix |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | โ |
| Ads | Yes | No โ better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 โ better | 15.1 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mustafa Salim Erek | Toru Kitajima |
In-app purchases
Saku
- Studio Unlock$3.99
Shadepix
- Handful of Diamonds$1.99
- Pouch of Diamonds$4.99
- Chest of Diamonds$9.99
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- Vault of Diamonds$19.99
- Diamond Mine$49.99





