Comparison

Monument Valley vs kubic

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

Head to head
About

Monument Valley

Explore a world of impossible architecture and optical illusions. Guide a silent princess through stunningly beautiful, hand-crafted monuments by manipulating the environment. Uncover hidden paths and solve puzzles in this surreal exploration game.

Highlights
  • Impossible architecture manipulation
  • Optical illusion puzzles
  • Surreal exploration
  • Hand-crafted worlds
  • Intuitive twist and drag controls
  • Reactive soundscape
Features
Read full description

** Apple Game of the Year 2014 ** ** Winner of Apple Design Award 2014 ** In Monument Valley you will manipulate impossible architecture and guide a silent princess through a stunningly beautiful world. Monument Valley is a surreal exploration through fantastical architecture and impossible geometry. Guide the silent princess Ida through mysterious monuments, uncovering hidden paths, unfolding optical illusions and outsmarting the enigmatic Crow People. Ida's Dream now available. Forgotten Shores: Eight new chapters of adventure and illusion available now as a separate purchase. Buy or download Monument Valley now and you’ll also get our fully animated iMessage sticker pack, including 5 stickers exclusive to players! Only available on iOS10 and above. ======= "This might be the most beautiful iPad game of 2014" - Wired "Brilliant design... stayed with me like a dream I didn't want to forget" 9/10 - Polygon "The most sublime hour my iPad has ever given me... and the value of such a thing is incalculable" - Kotaku "Monument Valley stuns with its serenity... each screen is a work of art" - Huffington Post "Almost impossibly gorgeous... a feast for your senses" 5/5 - Touch Arcade ======= BEAUTIFUL Inspired by minimalist 3D design, optical illusions and palaces and temples from around the world, every monument is a unique, hand-crafted world to explore. EASY TO USE Twist and drag to reshape the world and help Ida to explore. Designed to be easy for everyone to pick up, enjoy and complete. SOUND Audio reacts to your manipulation of the world to provide a surreal and beautiful soundscape. Best experienced with headphones. iCloud Synchronize your game across all your devices. ** Monument Valley is designed for iPhone 4 and above. It is NOT compatible with iPod Touch 4th Generation.

About

kubic

This optical illusion puzzle game challenges players to construct impossible structures inspired by M.C. Escher's art. With a clean design and minimalistic graphics, it offers over 60 mind-bending puzzles across various geometric and spatial themes. Features include layer locking, zoom, and an in-game hint system to aid progression.

Highlights
  • Optical illusion puzzles
  • M.C. Escher inspired designs
  • Geometric and impossible objects
  • Layer locking and manipulation
  • Zoom and view controls
  • In-game hint system
  • Progress syncing via iCloud
Features
Read full description

***** #1 Puzzle Game in over 20 Countries! ***** ***** "This quirky puzzle game bends the limits of space and reality to make you create structures that, in theory, should be impossible to replicate." - Pocket Gamer 8/10 ***** ***** "As soothing as it is challenging, this grown-up puzzler opened our minds. Time flew by as we recreated sculpture after sculpture in increasingly difficult configurations. The game’s 3D graphics invite focus and sharpen problem-solving skills, making it an entertaining brain-builder. M.C. Escher would be impressed by the twisty, physics-defying structures." - App Store Notes ***** kubic is a unique optical illusion puzzle game based on M.C. Escher's art, impossible objects and other geometric designs. The object is to construct the goal configuration from a number of pieces. Presented in a simple, clean design and minimalistic art, kubic is a premium game with over 60 escher-esque puzzles. When you click on a piece, it pops to the front-most layer, and may overlap other pieces. When you combine the pieces, they do not merge. If there are extra pieces, you may hide them behind the others. You can also lock layers and drag pieces without changing their layer order. You can also use two finger pinch to zoom in and out and drag the view for a better control. If you are stuck on a puzzle you can simply skip it and re-visit at a later time. Rest assured, all puzzles can be solved but beware, some puzzles are hard! Just take your time...Tip: It helps to plan ahead and build figures from back to front. If you truly get stuck, there is a in-game hint system. You can use it to get started or even get the whole puzzle solved. Levels divided in 6 groups: • Ocean - "2D" Shapes are basically two-dimensional arrangements. • Desert - "3D" Shapes appear to be three-dimensional, but remember to think in two dimensions. • Mountain - "Convex/Concave" These optical illusions are inspired by Escher's famous "Convex and Concave" lithograph. • Sky - "Up/Down" These optical illusions are inspired by the Penrose Triangle featured in Escher's lithograph "Waterfall”. • Escher - Based on letter designs that spell out MC ESCHER. • Print - Based on the printable magazine version of Convex-Concave puzzles. Kubic is localized and supports 12 languages including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish Game supports iCloud for progress syncing between devices. Convex Concave puzzles from the Heaven and Earth game are included with permission. The puzzles were designed by Scott Kim, Puzzlemaster (scottkim.com), and the Heaven & Earth team. Enjoy!

Screenshots

Monument Valley4 screens
kubic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: kubic at Free against Monument Valley's $3.99. kubic also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Monument Valley's advantage is review sentiment (81% vs 39%) and ads (none vs shown). On update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

kubic is free to download; Monument Valley costs $3.99 up front. Monument Valley sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and kubic sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Monument Valley holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Monument Valley has 18K ratings behind it against 245, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Monument Valley's written reviews are positive against 39% of kubic's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Monument Valley versus kubic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMonument Valleykubic
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (18K ratings) — better4.4 (245 ratings)
Positive reviews80.5% of reviews — better38.9% of reviews
Number of ratings18K — better245
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#6 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size324 MB383 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerustwo gamesPixel Envision Ltd.

Customer experience

Monument Valley

All ratings15,824 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews946 reviews
Positive80.5%
Neutral8.6%
Negative10.9%

kubic

All ratings245 ratings
Positive82.9%
Neutral6.5%
Negative10.6%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive38.9%
Neutral16.7%
Negative44.4%

User reviews

Monument Valley

From 18K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Stunning visuals and graphics
  • 🎶 Soothing and atmospheric audio
  • 🧠 Clever and mind-bending puzzles
  • 🕰️ Relaxing and calming gameplay
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly controls

Room to improve

  • 🕹️ Puzzles can be too easy at times
  • ⏱️ Game is relatively short in length
  • 💰 Expensive for the amount of content
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes reported

kubic

From 245 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Original and clever puzzles
  • 🧠 Mind-bending challenges
  • 👍 Fun and engaging gameplay
  • ✨ Well-realized game concept
  • 🤔 Puzzles make you think

Room to improve

  • 😠 Frustrating tile placement
  • 📉 Steep difficulty curve
  • 💸 Excessive and intrusive ads
  • 😩 Stressful user experience
  • ⚠️ Ads interrupt gameplay

Bugs and requests

Monument Valley

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Levels not loading or freezing on certain devices
  • Inability to purchase or access DLC/expansion content
  • Compatibility issues with recent iOS updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • More levels and chapters to extend the gameplay
  • Increased difficulty and challenge in later puzzles
  • Ability to save progress and resume levels
  • Support for newer device screen sizes and resolutions

kubic

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Tiles not sticking correctly
  • App won't launch offline
  • App won't load/crashes on launch
  • In-app purchase attempts forced
  • Bug with in-app purchase activation

Requested features

5 requests
  • Fix tile placement issues
  • Improve difficulty curve
  • Option to rotate puzzles
  • Option to lock in pieces
  • Dark mode for night play

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Monument Valley

One-time1
  • Forgotten Shores$1.99
5 purchases

kubic

One-time5
  • 10 Hints$0.99
  • No Ads$1.99
  • 25 Hints$1.99
Show 2 more
  • 50 Hints$2.99
  • 100 Hints$3.99

Questions

Is Monument Valley free?
Monument Valley costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is kubic free?
kubic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Monument Valley or kubic?
Monument Valley is rated higher. Monument Valley averages 4.8 out of 5 from 18K ratings, while kubic averages 4.4 from 245 ratings.
Do Monument Valley or kubic have ads?
kubic shows ads; Monument Valley does not.
Which is updated more often, Monument Valley or kubic?
Monument Valley ships an update every 2 months, and kubic every 2 months. Most recently, Monument Valley was updated on November 6, 2026 and kubic on November 2, 2026.

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