Comparison

Lanterns vs Barndoku!

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

Head to head
About

Lanterns

A logic puzzle game where you place lanterns to illuminate every tile on the board. Solve over 10,000 unique puzzles with a daily challenge and a cozy, ad-free experience.

Highlights
  • Logic deduction puzzles
  • Over 10,000 unique rooms
  • Daily timed challenges
  • No countdown in campaign mode
  • Optional in-app purchases
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

Light every tile and bring a hidden world back to life. Lanterns is Akari, also called Light Up: a puzzle of pure deduction. Place lanterns so every open tile glows. Numbered walls tell you how many lanterns must touch them. Light stops at walls, and no two lanterns may shine on each other. Meet Pip, your lantern-moth companion, and explore over 10,000 puzzle rooms across 834 floors. Restore chapter landmarks as you progress, and take a break with Firefly Flight at chapter restorations. Campaign puzzles have no countdown. Take your time, mark your plans, use free Undo, and follow Why explanations on the board. Your unfinished campaign puzzle stays ready when you return. The Daily challenge brings one timed puzzle each local date: ninety seconds, one attempt, no hints or revives. Keep your daily streak going and look back on your results. See a score out of 100 after each campaign win, celebrate your personal best, and choose lantern styles as you make the world brighter. If you enjoy Nonogram, Picross, Sudoku, Hashi or Nurikabe, try a different kind of logic puzzle. Each board is generated and checked for a unique solution. Lanterns is free to download, with optional in-app purchases. Campaign entry tickets recover over time. Between-level ads may appear after the introductory levels; a one-time purchase removes forced ads permanently. Rewarded videos remain optional. No sign-in is required to play. Akari (Light Up) is Nikoli's puzzle form.

About

Barndoku!

This logic puzzle game combines Sudoku-like rules with a charming farm theme. Players place animals in a grid, ensuring no two animals touch, even diagonally. It offers daily challenges, leaderboards, and customizable player faces.

Highlights
  • Sudoku-style grid puzzles
  • Farm animal theme
  • Daily challenges and streaks
  • Leaderboards
  • Customizable player faces
  • Hint and reveal system
Features
Read full description

Barndoku is a logic puzzle with the rules of sudoku and the charm of a farm. Every board is a grid of coloured pens. Place exactly one animal in each row, each column and each pen, and never let two animals touch, not even at the corners. That's the whole rulebook. The thinking is in working out where an animal can't go, fencing off those cells, and watching the last possible spot reveal itself. If you enjoy star battle, sudoku or any one-per-row logic puzzle, you'll feel at home in the barn. HOW A PUZZLE PLAYS • Tap a cell to fence it off when you know no animal can live there. • Double-tap to place an animal when only one spot remains. • Boards grow from a 4×4 warm-up to 10×10 brain-benders. • Stuck? A hint points at the next deduction. A reveal shows a cell outright. Both refill every hour. A LITTLE EVERY DAY • Daily Streak: solve one puzzle a day, keep the flame alive, earn prizes on day seven. • Leaderboard: each solve lays eggs. Climb past the other farmers before the day resets. • Daily Challenge: one big board shared by everyone, with your finishing time ranked against the crowd. MAKE IT YOURS • Every animal you reveal for the first time unlocks it as your face, with its own frame. • Pick a handle, wear your favourite face, and see your name on the board. MADE FOR GROWN-UPS WHO LIKE A THINK No timers on the ladder, no lives, no penalties for taking your time. Pattern Mode swaps the colours for patterns if that reads better for you. No sign-up. Your progress is saved automatically and you can delete it from Settings at any time. Questions or ideas? support@somalabs.ai

Screenshots

Lanterns4 screens
Barndoku!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Barndoku! at none against Lanterns's 4. Barndoku! also leads on ratings volume (106 vs 9). Lanterns's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (daily vs every 3 days). On price, review sentiment, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Lanterns sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Barndoku! asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lanterns holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Barndoku! has 106 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lanterns ships an update daily, Barndoku! every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Lanterns versus Barndoku!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLanternsBarndoku!
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (9 ratings) — better4.6 (106 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings9106 — better
Update frequencyDaily — betterEvery 3 days
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.415.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size151 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer10X Ventures LLCSoma AI

Customer experience

Lanterns

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Barndoku!

All ratings57 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral5.3%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Lanterns

One-time4
  • Pouch of Embers$1.99
  • The Gilded Lantern$2.99
  • Satchel of Embers$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Chest of Embers$9.99
None

Barndoku!

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lanterns free?
Lanterns is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Barndoku! free?
Barndoku! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lanterns or Barndoku!?
Lanterns is rated higher. Lanterns averages 5.0 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while Barndoku! averages 4.6 from 106 ratings.
Do Lanterns or Barndoku! have ads?
Both Lanterns and Barndoku! show ads.
Which is updated more often, Lanterns or Barndoku!?
Lanterns ships an update daily, and Barndoku! every 3 days. Most recently, Lanterns was updated on October 25, 2026 and Barndoku! on October 29, 2026.

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