Hack Ex

About Hack Ex

Hack Ex is a single player casual simulation game. It was developed by CNC Apps and was released on February 14, 2015. It received positive reviews from players.

The OG multiplayer hacker simulator. Hack Ex 2 sequel out now!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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More games like Hack Ex

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Reviews

81%Audience ScoreBased on 9,040 reviews

gameplay23 positive mentions

monetization41 negative mentions

Addictive and entertaining gameplay that simulates hacking other players' devices and bank accounts.
Free to play with optional in-app purchases; fair and not pay-to-win.
Simple, intuitive interface and easy to get started, with a sense of competition and social interaction through friends and contacts.

Extremely long wait times for uploads, downloads, cracking, and bypassing at higher levels, sometimes taking days or even years.
Lack of updates and new content leading to boredom and dead player base; many features missing or buggy (e.g., transfer money between contacts).
No tutorial or in-game guidance, leading to confusion for new players; UI and process management need improvement (e.g., pausing processes, sorting hacked IPs).

monetization
68 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10% positive mentions, 30% neutral mentions, 60% negative mentions
The game's monetization heavily relies on watching numerous ads to reduce extremely long wait times, which become excessive at higher levels, often leading to stalled progress despite ad viewing. While in-app purchases exist, they feel necessary to advance efficiently, with some users labeling the system a cash grab due to buggy or ineffective rewards. However, ads are mostly optional and don’t interrupt gameplay, and the game isn’t overtly pay-to-win, though microtransactions and ad frequency remain a common point of frustration.
- “No ads, no pop-ups, pay to win isn't a big thing, the game is not filled with too many micro-transactions, and everything else is pretty much perfect.”
- “Some in-app purchases but overall you don't have to spend real cash to be number 1.”
- “In-app purchases do not feel intrusive or overpowering.”
- “The rest of the game you have to watch hundreds of ads just to progress a fraction of a step.”
- “Every time the process will get stuck at some random percentage and it will never reach 100%, so you keep on watching ads and developer keeps on getting money.”
- “It's great at first, but after a while things just take way too long; if I don't watch the ads some uploads take hundreds of years real time to complete.”
gameplay
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50% positive mentions, 43% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions
The gameplay is generally praised for its originality, addictive mechanics, and fun interaction, especially the innovative ad and hacking elements. However, many users find it repetitive, slow-paced at higher levels, and in need of more complexity, upgrades, and better pacing to maintain long-term engagement. Bugs and occasional sluggishness affect the experience, but overall the mechanics are solid with great potential for improvement.
- “Hack ex takes the classic "click button wait for task to complete" gameplay and innovates in several refreshing ways.”
- “The gameplay is excellent and the wallpapers I love especially the blue one when you get to level 10; that's my favorite of them all.”
- “It's simple and fun gameplay makes this game fun and addicting.”
- “Recent update screwed up the spam mechanic.”
- “150+ days for an upload kills gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is repetitive clicking and can get old after a while.”
stability
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 93% negative mentions
The game suffers from frequent bugs, crashes, and freezing issues that significantly hinder gameplay and progress, with many users citing long wait times exacerbated by glitches. While some find the bugs tolerable or improving with updates, stability remains a major concern that affects the overall experience.
- “Not buggy and simple to understand.”
- “There have been no glitches that I've seen.”
- “It's broken again.. freezes, crashes, doesn't load and just plain boring.”
- “Very buggy and crashes a lot.”
- “No community, every account you find is dead, the wait times are ridiculous and try to force you to pay insane amounts of money, the user interface is awful and buggy, the only way to progress is to upload spam and wait (and wait some more).”
story
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12% positive mentions, 76% neutral mentions, 12% negative mentions
Users widely criticize the game for lacking a defined story, missions, or goals, making gameplay feel directionless and repetitive. Many suggest adding quests, storylines, missions, and features like hacker groups or alliances to enhance engagement and depth. Overall, the absence of narrative or structured challenges diminishes the game's long-term appeal.
- “I'd recommend adding something in the way of plot/storyline or at least some sort of goal beyond just screwing over other players.”
- “It could use some more diversity or perhaps a storyline, and I'm not sure why anyone would bother with the spyware as you can't profit from it, but overall the game's quite fun.”
- “That would make things better; as would uncovering an ongoing storyline whilst playing long-term.”
- “There's no direction, no tutorial, no missions. All I've done is connect to other players' phones and upload spyware and spam, which doesn't seem to be doing anything. It takes an hour to upload, and downloading anyone else's stuff requires waiting 10+ real-life days.”
- “There are no new apps, tools, missions, or new hacking skills that you can learn or acquire.”
- “Needs more things to do, needs to be more in-depth; also add events, mini-games, campaigns, and story modes.”
grinding
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 96% negative mentions
Grinding in the game is frequently described as slow, tedious, and repetitive, with many players feeling that progression lacks fresh content or meaningful upgrades. While some enjoy the farming aspect and find it engaging initially, the long-term experience often devolves into a monotonous loop of upgrades and tasks that can diminish overall enjoyment. Improvements in interface and additional features could alleviate some of the grind-related frustrations.
- “It has now become a slow, grindy game that doesn't deserve any attention.”
- “There are no new tools that become available late into the game, no new angle after weeks, even months, of grinding.”
- “Overall I enjoy the game and play it to kill time but as soon as you start really rolling it's just a tedious upgrade, hack, deposit, spam loop.”
humor
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with players enjoying the hilarious scenarios of hacking friends, leaving funny messages, and the playful deception involved. While some find the concept funny and addictive, a few note the game’s limitations and invasive in-app purchases slightly detract from the experience. Overall, the humor adds a lighthearted and entertaining layer to the gameplay.
- “Having people join from school to farm off them is insanely funny.”
- “Love this app; it's great for people that enjoy hacking. Not only do you get the feeling you're a hacker, but you can control how you hack, like being sneaky and removing their logs so they have no clue who hacked them, or just being funny and typing stupid things in people's logs.”
- “It's funny to hack into your friend that is sitting right beside you.”
graphics
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53% positive mentions, 27% neutral mentions, 20% negative mentions
The graphics in the game are generally considered simple and dated, with some users finding them realistic and appealing, while others feel they lack detail and fail to hold interest. Despite the minimalistic style, it suits the gameplay and ensures smooth performance, though there is a desire for more visual enhancements and modern updates.
- “I like it so much because its graphics are just perfect and look very realistic.”
- “The graphics and details are great.”
- “Very edited good graphics.”
- “I like the game, but it doesn't catch my attention for long and the simple graphics make me lose interest.”
- “Needs better graphics.”
- “Graphics are dated (gingerbread), no tutorial, most nodes that you hack have no money (inactive players), tracking your progress on nodes is an absolute pain.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 30% negative mentions
Users consistently note the game lacks background music, suggesting that adding music, sound effects, and audio customization would enhance the overall experience. While the game is enjoyable as is, incorporating audio elements is a common recommendation for future updates.
- “The game is fun but could do with some background music.”
- “I love it, I think all it needs is some music, sound effects, some simple animations, and a little less time for the processes.”
- “However, the game is too quiet; I would recommend adding some music or something along with it.”
- “Add music options or sound because it's just silent but still a good game.”
- “Fun to play, could use some kind of background music or maybe a way to customize your virtual device.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 25% negative mentions
The game generally runs smoothly and offers good performance without requiring additional purchases for progression. However, some users note that it could use further optimization for newer Android devices. Overall, it delivers a polished and enjoyable experience with solid optimization.
- “Overall the game has had no problems with performance and is overall a great time.”
- “The game is polished, runs smoothly, and is a great waste of time; the best part is you don't need to buy overclocks to level up fast and enjoy it.”
- “This app runs smoothly, isn't pay to win, and is pretty basic—a great time killer.”
- “Horrible performance and optimization”
- “Like slave hack but optimized on Droid!”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The atmosphere of "Hunt or Be Hunted" is highly praised for its immersive shady hacker vibe, creating a tense and captivating experience.
- “The atmosphere of 'hunt or be hunted' is amazing.”
- “Game has that shady hacker atmosphere.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The replayability is limited by the game's pacing, as current real-time mechanics reduce incentive to replay; adjusting in-game time to be faster than real time would enhance replay value.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Users find the app emotionally engaging, as it evokes a sense of immersion and excitement by making them feel like real hackers even without detailed instructions.