Comparison

Blackbox vs Empty.

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

Head to head
About

Blackbox

This puzzle game challenges you to solve intricate problems without touching the screen. It utilizes minimalistic visual cues, sonic interfaces, and haptic feedback to guide you through unique challenges that require thinking outside the box. Discover a new way to interact with your device and prove your cleverness.

Highlights
  • Touchless gameplay
  • Minimalistic visual clues
  • Sonic interfaces
  • Haptic feedback
  • External puzzle solving
  • Easter eggs
Features
Read full description

So you think you understand this thing you’re holding? Think again. Stop tapping. Stop swiping. In fact, stop touching the screen at all. To crack Blackbox’s puzzles you’ll need to find solitude and stillness, climb mountains, call on friends, get in tune with the cosmos, and think outside the box. Minimalistic visual clues make for incredibly satisfying “Aha!” moments, while sonic interfaces provide an extra level of guidance and nuance that makes Blackbox accessible with or without vision. Thoughtful haptic feedback, Easter eggs on Easter eggs, and solutions that can’t be found beneath the glass of your screen redefine what a puzzle can be. You’ll never see your device the same way again. Think you’re clever? Prove it. (Blackbox is a living game under active development by Ryan McLeod. When not eating burritos or drinking coffee, he’s busy designing and developing new Blackbox challenges.) ■

About

Empty.

A relaxing puzzle game designed to help you unwind and appreciate simplicity. Rotate rooms to clear them using intuitive one-touch controls. Enjoy a peaceful experience with a beautiful soundtrack and over 25 handcrafted levels.

Highlights
  • Unique room rotation puzzles
  • One-touch controls
  • No ads or paid content
  • Accessible for all ages
  • 25+ handcrafted levels
  • Original soundtrack
Features
Read full description

A relaxing puzzle game to unwind with. Each level teaches you to value simplicity in life. ‣ Unique puzzle mechanics — clear the room by rotating it! ‣ One-touch controls — play with one hand! ‣ No ads. No paid content. Supported by donations. ‣ Accessible for players of all ages. ‣ 25+ beautiful hand-crafted levels. ‣ Original soundtrack - a full length album. Learn the timeless concept — that less is more — that will contribute to your wellbeing in addition to simply joyfully passing time.

Screenshots

Blackbox4 screens
Empty.4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Empty. at none against Blackbox's 10. Empty. also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.6). Blackbox's advantage is ratings volume (109K vs 2.4K) and update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly). On price, rating, review sentiment 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

Both are free to download. Blackbox sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Empty. 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 Blackbox against 4.8 for Empty.. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Blackbox has 109K ratings behind it against 2.4K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 93% and 93% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Blackbox ships an update every 9 days, Empty. monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Blackbox versus Empty.: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlackboxEmpty.
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (109K ratings)4.8 (2.4K ratings)
Positive reviews92.6% of reviews92.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings109K — better2.4K
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#40 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size209 MB88 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShapes and Stories LLCMaksym Dzitsiuk

Customer experience

Blackbox

All ratings108,586 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews4,671 reviews
Positive92.6%
Neutral3.6%
Negative3.8%

Empty.

All ratings2,372 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral1.5%
Negative3.2%
Written reviews679 reviews
Positive92.9%
Neutral2.7%
Negative4.4%

User reviews

Blackbox

From 109K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Unique and creative gameplay
  • 🤔 Challenges users to think outside the box
  • 😄 Humorous and witty comments
  • 🔑 Utilizes phone features in innovative ways

Room to improve

  • 🤯 Extremely challenging puzzles
  • 💰 Expensive for additional content
  • 🤖 Concerns about app accessing device permissions
  • 🚗 Puzzles requiring travel/location are inaccessible for some

Empty.

From 2.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌙 Calming and relaxing
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive gameplay
  • 🎨 Beautiful color palette and aesthetics
  • 🔒 No ads or in-app purchases
  • 💡 Unique and innovative concept

Room to improve

  • 🕰️ Game is too short
  • 🤔 Some levels require precise alignment
  • 🔇 No option to turn off background music

Bugs and requests

Blackbox

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Hints not working as expected
  • Progress reset after app update

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add ability to earn hint credits through watching ads
  • Include more free puzzles
  • Improve accessibility for users with limited mobility
  • Provide better guidance and instructions for puzzles

Empty.

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Certain objects not disappearing as expected
  • Glitches on specific levels

Requested features

3 requests
  • More levels and content
  • Difficulty settings or options
  • Ability to save progress

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Blackbox

One-time10
  • Tiny Hint Pack$1.19
  • Small Hint Pack$2.39
  • Erudite Pack$2.99
Show 7 more
  • Push Pack$2.99
  • Coffee for Ryan$4.49
  • Basic Pack$4.99
  • Medium Hint Pack$5.00
  • All Knowing Pack$7.99
  • Large Hint Pack$10.00
  • Extra Large Hint Pack$20.00
None

Empty.

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Blackbox free?
Blackbox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Empty. free?
Empty. is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Blackbox or Empty.?
Blackbox and Empty. are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 109K and 2.4K ratings respectively.
Do Blackbox or Empty. have ads?
Neither Blackbox nor Empty. shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Blackbox or Empty.?
Blackbox ships an update every 9 days, and Empty. monthly. Most recently, Blackbox was updated on October 3, 2026 and Empty. on October 1, 2026.

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