Comparison

Hadean Lands vs Cracking the Cryptic

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Classic text adventure gameplay
  • Complex alchemical puzzles
  • Fluid typing and reading interface
  • Built-in game map
  • Journal for discoveries
  • VoiceOver and dictation support
Features
Read full description

*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

About

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.

Highlights
  • Handcrafted Sudoku puzzles
  • Curated by expert constructors
  • Classic and unique variants
  • Regularly released puzzle packs
  • Free introductory puzzle pack
Features
Read full description

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

Hadean Lands4 screens
Cracking the Cryptic4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Hadean Lands versus Cracking the Cryptic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHadean LandsCracking the Cryptic
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (15 ratings) — better4.4 (211 ratings)
Positive reviews88.9% of reviews — better72.1% of reviews
Number of ratings15211 — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB234 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperZarfhome Software ConsultingNick Carney

Customer experience

Hadean Lands

All ratings15 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive88.9%
Neutral5.6%
Negative5.6%

Cracking the Cryptic

All ratings208 ratings
Positive84.1%
Neutral6.3%
Negative9.6%
Written reviews147 reviews
Positive72.1%
Neutral13.6%
Negative14.3%

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

None

Hadean Lands

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Cracking the Cryptic

One-time10
  • CTC Worms - James Sinclair$0.99
  • CTC Worms - Marty Sears$0.99
  • CTC Worms - Michael Lefkowitz$1.99
Show 7 more
  • 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?
Hadean Lands costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cracking the Cryptic free?
Cracking the Cryptic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Hadean Lands or Cracking the Cryptic?
Hadean Lands is rated higher. Hadean Lands averages 5.0 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Cracking the Cryptic averages 4.4 from 211 ratings.
Do Hadean Lands or Cracking the Cryptic have ads?
Neither Hadean Lands nor Cracking the Cryptic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hadean Lands or Cracking the Cryptic?
Hadean Lands ships an update every 11 months, and Cracking the Cryptic every 3 weeks. Most recently, Hadean Lands was updated on November 1, 2026 and Cracking the Cryptic on November 4, 2026.

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