Blackbox vs Peglin
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Touchless gameplay
- Minimalistic visual clues
- Sonic interfaces
- Haptic feedback
- External puzzle solving
- Easter eggs
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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.) ■
Peglin
Embark on a roguelike adventure combining Pachinko-style combat with deck-building strategy. Collect powerful orbs and relics to defeat dragons and reclaim your gold. Explore procedurally generated maps with unique challenges and surprises on every run.
- Collect and upgrade orbs and relics
- Pachinko-like combat mechanics
- Procedurally generated maps
- Defeat monsters and bosses
- Strategic use of potions and bombs
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The award-winning roguelike-deckbuilder Peglin is finally available on iOS! This version lets you try it before you buy it with unlimited access to the first third of the game and a one-time purchase to own the complete game and all future updates! The dragons have been popping peglins and stealing all of your gold for as long as you can remember. Enough is enough. It's time to venture through the woods, conquer the fortress, and delve into the heart of the dragon's lair to take back what's yours and teach those dragons a lesson. Peglin plays like a combination of Peggle and Slay the Spire. The enemies are tough, and if you're defeated your run is over, but you've got powerful orbs with special effects and incredible relics that influence both your enemies and the physics you'll use to defeat them. Features: - Collect and upgrade powerful orbs and relics to defeat the monsters and bosses that stand in your way. - Fight enemies with Pachinko-like gameplay - hit more pegs to do more damage. Use crit potions, refresh potions, and bombs wisely. - Explore a new map every time, with different orbs, enemies, and surprises along the way.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Blackbox at 4.8 against Peglin's 4.1. Blackbox also leads on review sentiment (93% vs 64%) and ratings volume (109K vs 1.2K). Peglin's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Blackbox sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Peglin sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Blackbox holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Blackbox has 109K ratings behind it against 1.2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 93% of Blackbox's written reviews are positive against 64% of Peglin's.
Blackbox ships an update every 9 days, Peglin fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 12, 2026.
| Parameter | Blackbox | Peglin |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (109K ratings) — better | 4.1 (1.2K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 92.6% of reviews — better | 64.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 109K — better | 1.2K |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #35 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 209 MB | 311 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Shapes and Stories LLC | Red Nexus Games Inc. |
Customer experience
Blackbox
Peglin
User reviews
Blackbox
From 109K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Peglin
From 1.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Addictive gameplay
- 👍 Unique blend of roguelike and pachinko
- 🎨 Charming retro art style
- 💰 Fair one-time purchase model
- 🔁 High replayability
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
- 🔍 Unclear mechanics and lack of explanations
- 📱 Controls not optimized for mobile
- 💰 Perceived high price for mobile game
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
Peglin
Reported bugs
3 issues- Soft locks when trying to unlock full game
- Aiming issues and unresponsive controls
- Inconsistent behavior of certain abilities
Requested features
4 requests- More level variety and content
- Ability to save and resume runs
- Vertical mode for better mobile experience
- Customizable controls and aiming
In-app purchases
Blackbox
- Tiny Hint Pack$1.19
- Small Hint Pack$2.39
- Erudite Pack$2.99
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- 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
Peglin
- Peglin Full Game Unlock$7.99









