Hadean Lands vs Cracking the Cryptic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hadean Lands
Experience a classic text adventure with complex alchemical puzzles and a fluid interface. This interactive fiction game requires you to type commands to explore and solve challenges. It features a built-in map and a journal to track your discoveries.
- Classic text adventure gameplay
- Complex alchemical puzzles
- Fluid typing and reading interface
- Built-in game map
- Journal for discoveries
- VoiceOver and dictation support
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*Winner of the XYZZY Interactive Fiction Awards for Best Puzzles, Best Setting, Best Implementation, and Best Use of Innovation for 2014.* *Hadean Lands* is interactive fiction — a classic text adventure. No graphics! No menus! No point-and-click! You type your commands, and read what happens next. This is the most complex puzzle structure I’ve ever designed. It’s the culmination of four years of work. I launched *Hadean Lands* as a Kickstarter project in 2010; it was a runaway success. Now it’s ready for you to play. - Fluid interface designed for comfortable typing and reading. - Full-length puzzle adventure with interlocking alchemical challenges. - Pop-up palette of commonly used commands. - Built-in game map — tap to go directly to any explored room. - Journal tab records all the recipes and rituals that you’ve discovered. - Full support for VoiceOver (speech output) and dictation (speech input) on devices that offer these features. “The overall arc, for me, was that I spent the first bit of the game really excited about the possibility space, and then the next several hours feeling like my head was going to explode... This game ranks off the charts on the ingenuity measure.” — Emily Short “The bottom line is that Hadean Lands makes great strides towards perfecting the classic adventure game — not just the text adventure.” — Steven Watson, AdventureGamers.com
Cracking the Cryptic
This app offers a curated collection of handcrafted Sudoku puzzles from world-renowned constructors. Explore classic and unique variants, with new puzzle packs released regularly. A free introductory pack is included with download.
- Handcrafted Sudoku puzzles
- Curated by expert constructors
- Classic and unique variants
- Regularly released puzzle packs
- Free introductory puzzle pack
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OUR NEWEST PACK – CLASSIC VOLUME #2! Classic sudoku is where it all began, and there is still lots of skill to be deployed to solve classic puzzles, and new techniques to be explored. Nikoli, the Japanese puzzle house, named and popularised sudoku from 1984, and we have commissioned 20 puzzles from them for this Classic Sudoku 2 app. We have also created 20 ourselves, and sourced 20 more from Sam Cappleman-Lynes, the brilliant British sudoku expert. The result is a wonderful 60-puzzle pack which will delight and challenge you. -------------------- Welcome to the brand new Sudoku app from the most popular Sudoku channel, Cracking The Cryptic. Unlike other Sudoku apps, we feature handcrafted and curated puzzles from the world’s best Sudoku constructors. Each collection features puzzles made by various authors that are now familiar names to those who follow the channel. Authors like Phistomefel, Clover, Sam Cappleman-Lynes, Christoph Seeliger, Richard Stolk, jovi_al, Qodec, Prasanna Seshadri and of course, Simon and Mark! Downloading Cracking the Cryptic will give you access to our first free collection – a variety pack by Prasanna Seshadri featuring 7 puzzles inspired from our previous Sudoku apps; Sandwich, Classic, Chess, Thermo, Miracle, Killer and Arrow Sudoku. We also have purchasable packs designed for all skill levels and featuring many unique variants not seen previously. We’ll be releasing more free and paid packs in the future so keep an eye on the app for more Sudoku content from Cracking The Cryptic!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Cracking the Cryptic at Free against Hadean Lands's $4.99. Cracking the Cryptic also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 11 months) and ratings volume (211 vs 15). Hadean Lands's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). On 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
Cracking the Cryptic is free to download; Hadean Lands costs $4.99 up front. Cracking the Cryptic sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Hadean Lands asks for nothing beyond the download.
Hadean Lands holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cracking the Cryptic has 211 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Hadean Lands's written reviews are positive against 72% of Cracking the Cryptic's.
Hadean Lands ships an update every 11 months, Cracking the Cryptic every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hadean Lands | Cracking the Cryptic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (15 ratings) — better | 4.4 (211 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 88.9% of reviews — better | 72.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 15 | 211 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 234 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Zarfhome Software Consulting | Nick Carney |
Customer experience
Hadean Lands
Cracking the Cryptic
Bugs and requests
Hadean Lands
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Cracking the Cryptic
Reported bugs
4 issues- Puzzle progress and purchases disappearing after updates
- Incorrect rules or hints in certain puzzles
- Crashes and freezes, especially on older devices or Macs
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between portrait and landscape modes
Requested features
5 requests- Add more color options for pencil marking and highlighting
- Implement a way to clear progress or start puzzles from scratch
- Integrate all CTC apps into a single app for better organization
- Add keyboard support, especially on Mac
- Improve the quality and clarity of hints
In-app purchases
Hadean Lands
No in-app purchases
Cracking the Cryptic
- CTC Worms - James Sinclair$0.99
- CTC Worms - Marty Sears$0.99
- CTC Worms - Michael Lefkowitz$1.99
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- GAS Volume #1$2.99
- GAS Volume #2$2.99
- CTC Approachable Sudoku #1$2.99
- Domino Sudoku Pack$4.99
- Lines Variety Pack$4.99
- Classic Volume #2$4.99
- CTC Fog Pack #1$4.99
Questions
Is Hadean Lands free?
Is Cracking the Cryptic free?
Which has better reviews, Hadean Lands or Cracking the Cryptic?
Do Hadean Lands or Cracking the Cryptic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Hadean Lands or Cracking the Cryptic?
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