NEONNET vs Hack Ex
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NEONNET
Engage in a cyberpunk roguelike strategy game on a hostile grid. Issue commands, scan for risks, and choose your tactical approach to hacking, combat, and extraction. Designed for brief, focused sessions, it offers deliberate pacing and a readable interface for strategic decision-making.
- Grid exploration with threat scanning
- Turn-based tactical combat
- Hacking and software upgrades
- Quest system with story threads
- Market economy for trading and upgrades
- Save and resume functionality
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A good card, a lucky roll and a smart move can turn a rough room into a great story. NEONNET is a cyberpunk roguelike deck builder that mixes tactical card battles, dice and dungeon exploration with a retro terminal's charm. You are an operator working through a troubled network, choosing who to trust and what to do with the records you recover. Expect hostile robots, useful contacts, credit caches and the occasional room name that deserves an eye roll. ROLL, EXPLORE, REPEAT - Roll a movement die, study the map and choose your route. - Explore a board of 36 rooms with robots, rewards, story encounters and services. - Enter STARX3 for compact 3 x 3 rooms connected by short, two-tile passages. - Spend your saved movement roll across legal grid steps, with remaining steps carried between taps. - Keep an eye on health and Credits while your next hand waits below the dungeon. - Switch between STARX2 and STARX3 while continuing the same adventure. BUILD A DECK THAT SUITS YOU - Choose from Packet Striker, Signal Intruder, Firewall Runner and Daemon Tinker starter styles. - Play attack, hacking, defense, draw and daemon cards. - Check each card's dice requirement before committing. - Weigh the cost of a card that returns through the discard pile against one that exhausts for the run. - Pick card rewards or take Credits when the room offers a choice. - Inspect your hand, draw pile, discard pile and exhausted cards in Deck. - Browse the Card Library for effects, dice rules and ways to find cards. PICK YOUR BATTLES - Face room guards with card tactics, basic attacks or hacks. - Choose a safe retreat when an encounter is better left behind. - Visit the clinic for healing and room services. - Take guaranteed salvage when you need a dependable reward. - Try the optional Coin Door, where you can bank the pot or push your luck. - Think through the next turn at your own pace. A STORY WITH PEOPLE TO REMEMBER - Set your motive and starting contact before your adventure begins. - Recover a blackout record and decide how its story should end. - Meet Patchwife, Mirror and Lattice, each with different interests in the network. - Make choices about service, evidence and who receives the recovered record. - Follow objectives and revisit your decisions in the Journal. - Continue through three story chapters as your run develops. RETRO STYLE, PRACTICAL CONTROLS - Enjoy pixel characters, robot artwork and a terminal-inspired atmosphere. - Watch gameplay dice throw, bounce and settle on the result of your action. - Read the roll and outcome in a compact result popup. - Open the log for the full story behind a short notification. - Bring up the command terminal to type your next action. - Use the separate Dice Tray for practice throws without spending a gameplay turn. - Adjust music, haptics and motion to suit the way you play. MAKE THE NEXT RUN YOURS - Create your operator through Identity, Look, Deck, Story and Review. - Pick your appearance and check your choices before starting. - Save named adventures and return to unfinished business. - Keep earlier grid adventures available alongside newer board runs. - Find reference screens, settings and extra tools in More. NEONNET is a good fit for players who enjoy turn-based strategy, dungeon crawlers, card games and fictional hacking adventures. There is time to inspect a room, change your plan and enjoy the small victories: a guard outplayed, a useful card found or a risky pot banked at exactly the right moment. Optional purchases unlock extras including autosave and save export through the Floppy Save Kit. Pick a deck, roll for the next room and outsmart the network.
Hack Ex
Engage in a virtual hacking simulation game where you adopt an alias to hack other players' devices and defend your own. Build your reputation by cracking virtual bank accounts, deploying viruses for income, and manipulating digital logs. Remember to erase your tracks to truly master the art of virtual hacking.
- Virtual hacking simulation
- Hack and defend player devices
- Crack virtual bank accounts
- Deploy viruses for income
- Manipulate digital logs
- Upgrade virtual devices and utilities
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Become the ultimate hacker under your alias in this virtual hacking game. Hack other players' devices and defend yours to build a reputation in the hacking world. Crack players' virtual bank accounts, upload viruses to generate money, manipulate their logs and more. And remember to clear your digital footprint... that’s what being the ultimate hacker is about, after all. * This is not real hacking. It's only a game. Features: - Quick to learn. No real hacking knowledge required. - Upgrade your virtual device to improve processing speed. - Upgrade your utility apps to better your defenses and attack with more success. - Hack into players’ virtual bank accounts and transfer their funds to your account. - Upload viruses on other players’ devices to earn you money and spy on their activity. - Hide your activity from your in-game logs or manipulate others. - Add your friends to your in-game Contacts and transfer funds to them. Note: This game requires an internet connection.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: NEONNET at every 4 days against Hack Ex's every 3 months. NEONNET also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Hack Ex's advantage is ratings volume (2.5K vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. NEONNET sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Hack Ex sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
NEONNET holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hack Ex has 2.5K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of NEONNET's written reviews are positive against 81% of Hack Ex's.
NEONNET ships an update every 4 days, Hack Ex every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NEONNET | Hack Ex |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.6 (2.5K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 81.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 2.5K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Verosocial Studio | CNC Apps, LLC |
Customer experience
NEONNET
Hack Ex
Bugs and requests
NEONNET
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Hack Ex
Reported bugs
4 issues- Ads not working properly to reduce processing times
- Inconsistent display of processing progress
- Crashes and login issues
- Inability to delete accounts or change email
Requested features
6 requests- More network and device upgrades
- Ability to team up with friends
- Different types of viruses and malware
- Leaderboards and social features
- Ability to pay or threaten other players
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- Shorter and more balanced processing times
In-app purchases
NEONNET
- Level Up$0.99
- Buy Credits - 500$0.99
Hack Ex
- 200 Overclocks$0.99
- 6000 Cryptocoins$1.99
- Generate New IP$1.99
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- 10000 Cryptocoins$1.99
- 1100 Overclocks$4.99
- 16000 Cryptocoins$4.99
- 34000 Cryptocoins$9.99
- 2400 Overclocks$9.99
- 72000 Cryptocoins$19.99
- 5000 Overclocks$19.99







