Comparison

Monument Valley vs Hidden Folks

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

Hidden Folks

Explore charming, hand-drawn worlds to find hidden characters. Interact with the environment by opening doors, cutting bushes, and more to reveal them. Unlock new areas as you discover enough targets.

Highlights
  • Hand-drawn interactive landscapes
  • Hundreds of targets to find
  • Unique environmental interactions
  • Multiple color modes
  • iMessage stickers
  • Community-translated languages
Features
Read full description

Game of the Year (2017) on the App Store! Search for hidden folks in hand-drawn, interactive, miniature landscapes. Unfurl tent flaps, cut through bushes, slam doors, and poke some crocodiles! Rooooaaaarrrr!!!!! A strip of targets shows you what to look for. Tap a target for a hint, and find enough to unlock the next area. ------/ Game Features /------ - 32 hand-drawn areas - 300+ targets to find - 2000+ mouth-originated sound effects - 500+ unique interactions - 3 color modes: normal, sepia, and night mode - 100+ iMessage stickers - iCloud synchronisation - 22 languages (translated by the community) ------/ Need help? /------ You can always email game designer Adriaan de Jongh: support@hiddenfolks.com

Screenshots

Monument Valley4 screens
Hidden Folks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hidden Folks at none against Monument Valley's 1. Hidden Folks also leads on review sentiment (93% vs 81%) and device support (5 vs 3). Monument Valley's advantage is chart position (#4 vs #15) and price ($3.99 vs $4.99). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

Monument Valley costs $3.99 and Hidden Folks $4.99 up front. Monument Valley sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hidden Folks asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Monument Valley against 4.9 for Hidden Folks. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16K and 13K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Monument Valley's written reviews are positive against 93% of Hidden Folks's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Monument Valley versus Hidden Folks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMonument ValleyHidden Folks
Price$3.99 — better$4.99
Rating4.8 (16K ratings)4.9 (13K ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.7% of reviews93.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings16K — better13K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#4 — better#15
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV — better
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size324 MB247 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerustwo gamesHidden Folks B.V.

Customer experience

Monument Valley

All ratings15,824 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews941 reviews
Positive80.7%
Neutral8.6%
Negative10.7%

Hidden Folks

All ratings12,500 ratings
Positive98.6%
Neutral0.9%
Negative0.6%
Written reviews1,141 reviews
Positive93.3%
Neutral2.5%
Negative4.2%

User reviews

Monument Valley

From 16K 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

Hidden Folks

From 13K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Charming, quirky art style
  • 👍 Engaging, interactive gameplay
  • 👍 Clever, humorous sound effects
  • 👍 Relaxing, no-pressure experience
  • 👍 Highly detailed, layered scenes

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Some objects too small/hard to find
  • 🔍 Difficulty level can be inconsistent
  • 🔍 Lack of ability to zoom out on larger maps
  • 💰 Paid updates/expansions required

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

Hidden Folks

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Conveyor belt issue on factory level
  • Certain hidden objects not appearing

Requested features

4 requests
  • More levels/content updates
  • Ability to save/resume progress
  • Customizable hint system
  • Randomized/procedurally generated levels

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Monument Valley

One-time1
  • Forgotten Shores$1.99
None

Hidden Folks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Monument Valley free?
Monument Valley costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Hidden Folks free?
Hidden Folks costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Monument Valley or Hidden Folks?
Hidden Folks is rated higher. Monument Valley averages 4.8 out of 5 from 16K ratings, while Hidden Folks averages 4.9 from 13K ratings.
Do Monument Valley or Hidden Folks have ads?
Neither Monument Valley nor Hidden Folks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Monument Valley or Hidden Folks?
Monument Valley ships an update every 2 months, and Hidden Folks every 2 months. Most recently, Monument Valley was updated on September 23, 2026 and Hidden Folks on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Monument Valley or Hidden Folks?
Monument Valley currently peaks at #4 in the App Store charts, and Hidden Folks at #15. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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