Comparison

Inquisitor's Heartbeat vs Sonar Islands

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

Head to head
About

Inquisitor's Heartbeat

Navigate treacherous dungeons and escape imprisonment by relying solely on sound. Solve puzzles and avoid guards and beasts in a historical setting. Features an endless mode with procedurally generated mazes.

Highlights
  • Sound-based navigation
  • Stealth gameplay
  • Puzzle solving
  • Historical setting
  • Endless game mode
  • Labyrinthine levels
Features
Read full description

Game description Inquisitor’s Heartbeat catapults the player right into the 1300s, the height of the brutal Inquisition. Accused of heresy for being in possession of a forbidden book, Nicholas Eymerich, the game’s main character is imprisoned in the dungeon of a castle: he must escape from his cell and retrieve the precious book that has been stolen from him, before it is taken to the monastery beyond the forest, and destroyed forever. In more than 6 hours of gameplay, the player has to find his way through 35 labyrinthine levels divided into 7 different settings, without being spotted by guards and ferocious beasts, trusting only his own ears. There is also an ‘endless’ game mode, where the mazes are generated one after the other, always with a different map. Developed for PC and Mac, and soon available also for iOS, Inquisitor’s Heartbeat is the result of a joint effort by Rising Pixel and Ornitocopter, with the soundtrack by the talented Luca Rungi, and TiconBlu as publisher. Game instructions iPad/iPhone: move around by touching the 4 edges of the screen to move, and touch the central area for the actions (pulling levers, gathering objects, etc.). Your character always moves in the selected direction at the same pace, one step at a time: just like moving on a chessboard. It is essential that you count your steps, listening to the different noises from the ground, paying attention to the echo and the sound variations, or if you bang into a wall... you're probably going in the wrong direction!

About

Sonar Islands

Embark on an audio-driven multiplayer adventure across 14 unique islands. Build your empire, explore diverse environments from ancient temples to volcanic landscapes, and engage in various challenges. Full game access requires a subscription.

Highlights
  • Multiplayer online gameplay
  • Audio-driven events
  • Empire building
  • Island exploration and development
  • Diverse island themes
  • Tutorial and story modes
Read full description

Sonar Islands is a MULTIPLAYER ONLINE game, where all relevant events happen in your ears. Build up your empire, explore and develop 14 different islands with this award winning GAME OF THE DAY 2021. Visit an ancient TEMPLE, the ancestors built, where snakes are biting. Take a trip to the JUNGLE, watch abandoned lions on your way Have a merry-go-round on the FUN FAIR and shoot all toys Feel the terraforming heat of the VOLCANO island Short-circuit their brain of the robots from Feer in the MACHINE HALL Get lost in the labyrinth of the PING Island Deal with wind and mosquitos high up on the TREETOP Face the invisible power o ELECTRO. Dance on a ViNYL Record and collect treasures hold by little creatures, Fear the zombies on the GRAVEYARD, Skate on a WINTER LAKE, Visit the monks in their MONASTERY, climb up to HIMALAYA Or decide between HEAVEN or HELL Happy vacation on the islands! Sonar Islands comes with a tutorial, a training island and a story island. To get full access to the game, Sonar Islands offers a monthly and a yearly subscription. When you purchase a subscription, payments will be charged to your App Store account at the confirmation of purchase and will automatically renew unless canceled within 24-hours before the end of the current period. For more information, see our Terms of Use (https://www.mentalhome.eu/terms-of-use/) and our Privacy Policy (https://www.mentalhome.eu/privacy-policy/).

Screenshots

Inquisitor's Heartbeat4 screens
Sonar Islands4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Inquisitor's Heartbeat at none against Sonar Islands's 5. Inquisitor's Heartbeat also leads on rating (4.0 vs 3.5). Sonar Islands's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 39 months) and review sentiment (60% vs 33%). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Sonar Islands sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Inquisitor's Heartbeat asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Inquisitor's Heartbeat holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sonar Islands has 83 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Inquisitor's Heartbeat's written reviews are positive against 60% of Sonar Islands's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Inquisitor's Heartbeat ships an update every 39 months, Sonar Islands every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Inquisitor's Heartbeat versus Sonar Islands: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInquisitor's HeartbeatSonar Islands
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (2 ratings) — better3.5 (83 ratings)
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews60.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings283 — better
Update frequencyEvery 39 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.5 — better
Further details — not scored
Size169 MB288 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperRising PixelHansjoerg Mikesch

Customer experience

Inquisitor's Heartbeat

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%

Sonar Islands

All ratings83 ratings
Positive56.6%
Neutral13.3%
Negative30.1%
Written reviews143 reviews
Positive60.1%
Neutral10.5%
Negative29.4%

Bugs and requests

Inquisitor's Heartbeat

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Sonar Islands

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes and freezes on certain devices
  • Compass and navigation issues with iOS 16
  • Incorrect Morse code in tutorial
  • Inconsistent audio cues

Requested features

5 requests
  • Additional free islands to explore
  • Option to purchase game outright instead of subscription
  • More varied event types and challenges
  • Ability to customize islands
  • Support for multiple languages

In-app purchases

None

Inquisitor's Heartbeat

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Sonar Islands

Subscriptions2
  • Full Access - monthly$2.991 Month
  • Full Access - yearly$29.491 Year
One-time3
  • 100 Diamonds$0.99
  • 500 Diamonds$3.99
  • 1000 Diamonds$5.99

Questions

Is Inquisitor's Heartbeat free?
Inquisitor's Heartbeat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Sonar Islands free?
Sonar Islands is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Inquisitor's Heartbeat or Sonar Islands?
Inquisitor's Heartbeat is rated higher. Inquisitor's Heartbeat averages 4.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Sonar Islands averages 3.5 from 83 ratings.
Do Inquisitor's Heartbeat or Sonar Islands have ads?
Neither Inquisitor's Heartbeat nor Sonar Islands shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Inquisitor's Heartbeat or Sonar Islands?
Inquisitor's Heartbeat ships an update every 39 months, and Sonar Islands every 2 months. Most recently, Inquisitor's Heartbeat was updated on September 24, 2026 and Sonar Islands on October 29, 2026.

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