# Stellar Mercenaries — Sci-Fi action scroller RPG > Offline sci-fi action scroller RPG with ship and weapon upgrades. (iPhone/iPad app by Quest Builders LLC.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stellar-mercenaries/id6446969323 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Quest Builders LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1679888919) - Category: Games, Action, Role Playing - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.70/5 from 34 App Store ratings · 20 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 9+ - Requires: iOS 12.0 · 198 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2023-04-25 - Data updated: 2026-07-17 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stellar-mercenaries/id6446969323/reviews.md ## What is Stellar Mercenaries? Ready to vanquish your enemies and change the solar system forever from anywhere? Stellar Mercs is a vertical scrolling, offline capable, action arcade shooter with upgradable ships, weapons, and special abilities. Customize your loadouts for each mission depending on the environments and enemies you'll face! Each mission will reward you with unlocks and cash to continue building your arsenal. You're not the only mercenary out there - the more successful and accomplished you become, the more attention you'll attract. Enemy mercenaries can become persistent arch-rivals, leveling up along side you. Defeating them will net you great rewards, but if you die at their hands, they'll grow even further in power. The fun is never-ending! Fly missions through endless procedurally generated missions with a variety of environments, objectives, hazards, enemies, and rewards. Hijack cargo from speeding space trains, break into heavily guarded research and development space stations to acquire new prototype ships to fly, or defeat mighty leviathan capital ships in your quest to become the wealthiest, most powerful mercenary in the system! Stellar Mercs operates as a single handed action arcade game, so you can play comfortably on the go. SM is offline capable, so even without signal you can keep gaming and conquering the solar system! Configure your spacecraft's loadout and autoshoot your way to victory - focus on maneuvering through hazards and waves of enemies while you employ special abilities for maximum carnage! ## Key features - Vertical scrolling arcade shooter - Offline capable gameplay - Upgradable ships and weapons - Customizable loadouts - Procedurally generated missions - Rival mercenary system ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Gem Pack - Medium | $7.99 | one-time | | Gem Pack - Large | $15.99 | one-time | | Currency - Medium Pack | $3.99 | one-time | | Gem Pack - Small | $2.99 | one-time | | Currency - Small Pack | $1.99 | one-time | | Stater Pack - Advanced | $5.99 | one-time | | Currency - Large Pack | $7.99 | one-time | | Starter Pack - Legendary | $15.99 | one-time | | Starter Pack - Basic | $1.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 20) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stellar-mercenaries/id6446969323/reviews.md ### 5/5 — A hidden gem! *2026-02-25, version Challenges 1.70* The devs have made quite the shmup, lots of levels, customization, and replayability. ### 5/5 — Frequent crashes *2025-10-27, version Jupiter 1.3.2* I really want to love this game. It’s pretty rare to have a mobile game that actually rewards skill. My main issue with the game is that it crashes very frequently and has stability problems when the game gets intense. The frame rate can get very low. Probably around 10fps. The game will crash and you will lose progress along with any gems you used in that session. Hopefully it will be updated soon. This is on an iPhone 17 pro max on ios 26.0.1. ### 5/5 — Update ideas *2025-05-03, version Jupiter 1.3.1* Great game, been playing for several weeks and and gotta say it’s limitless when it comes to playability, but much more could be added to this game “simply”. Maybe things like a battle pass system or even a XP system for leveling up and add more things happening and help keep the player engaged. ### 1/5 — Purchase bugged *2025-03-18, version Jupiter Expansion* I was enjoying the game well enough to decide to support the dev with a purchase but when I purchased the Loadout special all I received was the ship; none of the equipment that was supposed to be included. Not sure if it’s bugged or they are hidden away somewhere in the UI but I can’t find them. ### 5/5 — A bug with a story level *2024-08-09* My complaint with the game is now fixed, so just ignore this review and take the five stars **Developer response:** Great!! Thanks for the update and glad it’s working ### 5/5 — Level 9 broken *2024-04-27, version 1.4.1* Excellent ### 3/5 — Level 9 broken *2024-04-08* You can't beat level 9 because the train is stuck in an endless loop. Otherwise pretty fun. The retro isometric art is really nice. Kinda reminds me of Raptor. Having side missions is great too so you don't have to play the same missions on repeat to get cash etc. The enemy mercenary story part is also really cool (the lasers are easier than you think... keep your cool for those!) The balance of mechanics seems a bit off vs reward. The mechanism for buying upgrades is more convoluted than it needs to be and you end up just getting better/rarer stuff as drops anyway so the blueprints (at least up to level 9) have been completely useless to me. There are many animation moments that appear to waste a lot of game time (flying into hangar, waiting for the gates to open/close, waiting for your ship to fly off and end the mission, waiting for your reward box to open... why is it even in a box? That makes zero sense... just give the stuff as the reward...). Lastly if you kill a boss and it drops items on the screen there is no time to pick them up before the mission ends. This issue is only present for the final boss and does not affect mid level bosses. Also I did not pay for this app and just played the free version as it appears paying $ just gets you a better ship sooner (you can unlock at least 1 more ship if you beat some levels). ### 5/5 — A bug with a story level *2024-04-04* The game is great. It’s highly customizable and has a lot of diversity. I used to have practically 100% completed the game across two save files before the update or something else deleted them, and I was all too happy to get back to that point. However, on my way there, I realized the main mission 9 of the moon was broken, at least for me. the cargo train doesn’t go out far enough for the cargo to appear on the screen, and then it just slowly moves downwards until it’s off screen after that, leading to fight an endless wave of easy enemies. So great game, but it just has a bug that completely stops progression, at least for me ### 4/5 — A bug with a story level *2024-04-03* The game is great. It’s highly customizable and has a lot of diversity. I used to have practically 100% completed the game across two save files before the update or something else deleted them, and I was all too happy to get back to that point. However, on my way there, I realized the main mission 9 of earth was broken, at least for me. the cargo train doesn’t go out far enough for the cargo to appear on the screen, and then it just slowly moves downwards until it’s off screen after that, leading to fight an endless wave of easy enemies. So great game, but it just has a bug that completely stops progression, at least for me ### 5/5 — Good play loop and progression *2024-03-02, version 1.3* I originally downloaded this for research for development with a ton of other games. I keep coming back to this to play because I enjoy the progression of the game and the endless options for missions. Controls are great as well. ## Frequently asked questions about Stellar Mercenaries ### What kind of game is Stellar Mercenaries? Stellar Mercenaries is a vertical scrolling, offline capable, action arcade shooter with RPG elements. It focuses on combat, ship customization, and progression through procedurally generated missions. ### Can I play Stellar Mercenaries offline? Yes, Stellar Mercenaries is designed to be offline capable. You can enjoy the game and conquer the solar system even without an internet signal. ### How does progression work in Stellar Mercenaries? You progress by completing missions, which reward you with unlocks and cash. This currency can be used to upgrade your ship, weapons, and special abilities, allowing you to build a more powerful arsenal. ### What makes the enemies in Stellar Mercenaries unique? As you become more successful, you attract the attention of rival mercenaries. These rivals can level up alongside you, becoming persistent arch-rivals. Defeating them yields great rewards, but if they defeat you, they grow even stronger. ### Is Stellar Mercenaries free to play? The application is free to download and play, but it does offer in-app purchases. These purchases can enhance your gameplay experience or provide additional content. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### Challenges 1.70 — 2025-11-30 - Daily & Weekly challenges! - Earn premium currency in-game! - Hard gem missions now available in the bar! - Various fixes & optimizations ### Challenges 1.69 — 2025-11-21 - Daily & Weekly challenges! - Earn premium currency in-game! - Hard gem missions now available in the bar! - Various fixes & optimizations ### Challenges 1.68 — 2025-11-06 - Daily & Weekly challenges! - Earn premium currency in-game! - Hard gem missions now available in the bar! - Various fixes & optimizations ### Jupiter 1.3.2 — 2025-06-25 - Added two new premium ships - Added hourly deals to hangar - Bug fixes ### Jupiter 1.3.1 — 2025-03-28 Fixed player heatseeker homing ## Apps similar to Stellar Mercenaries | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Hero Slide](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hero-slide/id1127506509) | 5.0 (3) | Free | Games | | [Severance Pain](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/severance-pain/id6443958616) | 4.8 (18) | Free | Games | | [Tap Tap SHMUP](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tap-tap-shmup/id6448980975) | — | Free | Games | | [Astral Hunter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astral-hunter/id6503205657) | 4.3 (16) | Free | Games | | [LDS: Zombie Assault](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lds-zombie-assault/id1598600446) | 3.5 (2) | Free | Games | | [Alienated 2 - Zombie Survival](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/alienated-2-zombie-survival/id1632676711) | 5.0 (2) | Free | Games | --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-17.*