Blackbox vs Brain It On!
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.) ■
Brain It On!
Engage your mind with tricky physics puzzles. Draw shapes to find creative solutions to increasingly difficult challenges. Compete with friends and discover multiple ways to solve each puzzle.
- Dozens of brain-busting puzzles
- Puzzles added regularly
- Compete with friends
- Multiple solutions per puzzle
- Share unique solutions
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Deceptively challenging puzzles for your brain! Draw shapes to solve challenging physics puzzles. They're not as easy as they look. Care to give one a try? ◆ Dozens of brain busting puzzles, with more being added all the time ◆ Compete with your friends for the Brain It On! crown ◆ Multiple ways to solve each puzzle, can you find the best solution? ◆ Share your unique solutions and compare with your friends If you like this game, please rate it and leave a comment. As a tiny indie developer your support is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help! If you don't like something in the game, please email me at support@orbitalnine.com and tell me why. I want to hear your feedback and comments so I can continue to make this game better. Follow @orbitalnine on Twitter for all the latest news and updates on this game and upcoming releases. Like the game on Facebook: facebook.com/OrbitalNine Visit online at: orbitalnine.com I hope you enjoy Brain It On!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Blackbox at none against Brain It On!'s shown. Blackbox also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (109K vs 5.1K). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Blackbox sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Brain It On! sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Blackbox holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Blackbox has 109K ratings behind it against 5.1K, 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 81% of Brain It On!'s.
Blackbox ships an update every 9 days, Brain It On! every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 30, 2026.
| Parameter | Blackbox | Brain It On! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (109K ratings) — better | 4.5 (5.1K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 92.6% of reviews — better | 81.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 109K — better | 5.1K |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #30 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 209 MB | 191 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shapes and Stories LLC | Orbital Nine Games Inc |
Customer experience
Blackbox
Brain It On!
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
Brain It On!
From 5.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Challenging and fun
- 🔒 No ads
- 👍 Engaging physics-based puzzles
- 👍 Encourages creative thinking
- 👍 Good for brain exercise
Room to improve
- 🐛 Drawing accuracy issues
- 🐛 Glitches and crashes
- 🐛 Difficulty spikes too quickly
- 🔋 Overheating on some devices
- 👎 Too many ads for hints
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
Brain It On!
Reported bugs
4 issues- Level selector not working past level 220
- Inability to draw near screen edges due to OS gestures
- Hint videos not always helpful
- In-app purchases not working as expected
Requested features
5 requests- More levels
- Level editor to create custom puzzles
- Ability to save progress
- Improved drawing controls
- Better hints and guidance
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
Brain It On!
- Remove Popup Ads$0.99
- The Full Game (75% off)$0.99
- Coin Pack$0.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- The Full Game (50% off)$1.99
- Coin Pack$1.99
- The Full Game (25% off)$2.99
- Coin Pack$2.99
- The Full Game$3.99
- Coin Pack$3.99
