# XenoShyft

> Cooperative deck-building base defense strategy board game. (iPhone/iPad app by Twin Sails Interactive.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xenoshyft/id981289341 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Twin Sails Interactive](https://appshunter.io/developer/1135862620)
- Category: Games, Card, Strategy
- Price: $4.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.40/5 from 27 App Store ratings · 72 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 7.0 · 504 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2015-07-17
- Data updated: 2026-09-01
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xenoshyft/id981289341/reviews.md

## What is XenoShyft?

The hit Kickstarter boardgame, now available on mobile!

IMPORTANT: This app requires iPhone 5 or newer, iPad 3 or newer, iPad Mini
or iPod Touch 5th generation or newer!

Defend against waves of horrific aliens in this beautifully illustrated, base defense, deck-building game for 1 to 4 players!

"One of the most fun co-op games I have played in a long time!" - Tom Vasel (The Dice Tower)

"The enemies are just monstrous and difficult!" - Rodney Smith (Watch it Played)

In XenoShyft Onslaught players take on the role of a commander in the NorTec Corporation. You're tasked with defending your division of the NorTec base as wave after wave of horrific aliens attempt to destroy the base and end NorTec's strip mining operation.

Gameplay Features

1 - 4 players - Single player compatible, fully cooperative gameplay.

Strong focus on coordination and strategic planning - to overcome the game's intense difficulty players will need to work together.

Base-Defense with deck-building elements

Incredible art - Illustrated by three amazing artists, XenoShyft features beautiful and consistent art. All of which creates one cohesive and frightening universe.

Inventive and exciting armor and weapon upgrade cards - You'll need to outfit your troops with the best equipment if you hope to survive.

Xenoshyft is a game for 1-4 players, with each player controlling one of the divisions of the Nortec military: The Science Labs, Med Bay, Armory, Weapon's Research, Barracks and Command Center. Each of these divisions represents one part of the overall Nortec base, and it is your job as Commander of these divisions to protect the base while its field operations are completed.

You and your teammates will have to work together to survive the continuous onslaught of powerful alien threats and horrors – the goal of the mission is not to wipe out these threats, it is merely to outlast them!

Survive through nine rounds of combat with these horrors and the base will have succeeded in its mission, and you and your allies will have survived to fight another day!

## Key features

- 1-4 player cooperative gameplay
- Deck-building mechanics
- Base defense strategy
- Strategic planning and coordination
- Inventive armor and weapon upgrades
- Beautifully illustrated universe

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $4.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grafting Lab | $0.99 | one-time |
| Psychogenics Lab | $0.99 | one-time |
| The Hive Expansion | $0.99 | one-time |
| NorTec Elite | $1.99 | one-time |
| Dreadmire | $3.99 | one-time |
| Forbidden Sciences | $2.99 | one-time |


## Chart rankings

- #85 in Top Paid · Card (US App Store)

## Recent user reviews (10 of 72)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xenoshyft/id981289341/reviews.md

### 4/5 — Like a FPS like Lost Planet/Halo/Marathon

*2022-11-15, version 2.2.2*

Has the feel of the old time dungeon crawling alien first person shooters but mix in some deck building action. Love the card designs; enemy units; different weapons. Great game would love an Xbox one port with achievements.

### 3/5 — Almost Great

*2022-07-26, version 2.2.2*

I really like this game as the coop is awesome.  But it’s freaking buggy and there’s no way to undo some things you are stuck with it.  It’s hard so these frustrating broken ai choices it forces you into break the game.  Good job on the game, keep at it. It’s almost there.

### 2/5 — Years later, still not balanced

*2021-12-16, version 2.2.2*

I like the idea of this game. I like the styling of this game. I like the system used by this game. I do not like the balance of this game. I get that the game creators like games that may be impossible to win even even if the player was clairvoyant and used perfect strategy. I don’t.

### 5/5 — Recomendo

*2021-10-23*

Muito bem feito e dinâmico. Roda bem no meu IPad Air.

### 2/5 — Great visuals, Asmodee’s same terrible interface

*2021-07-11, version 2.2.2*

This game looks great and keeps in the spirit of the board game.  However, trying to play cards and/or their abilities is atrocious.  Typical from Asmodee games on the phone that I have played.  Spend more time trying to perform functions and actions than making strategic decisions.

### 4/5 — challenging game! Crying out for local play or pass n play

*2020-05-10, version 2.2.2*

I want to play this with friends, at least as pass n play or better still, with both of us on our own iPads. I am not interested in online. 
However as a solo game it is still great, really tough, good visuals and simple mechanics, you can also play as the other players by simply controlling their resources- it works fine.
This is a very good implementation of the board game
I.E. a thematic alien vs man survival deckbuilder, easy to learn and a game takes between 5-25 minutes, although only if you survive that long! Not won yet, not because of poor or unrealistic AI, but because it is a really hard game!

### 4/5 — Excellent game. No bugs I can see

*2020-04-05, version 2.2.2*

A well made game of co-op troop management. Usually I find deck builders to have pasted on theme but this one has mechanics that decently reflect the theme it is trying to convey. Though this is weakened with the psyonics and gen mid expansion a bit I feel. 

A little practice has us winning easily at 2 division. Game is rather hard at 1 division. The difficulty settings are well gauged with easy being quite easy, normal being a decent challenge and hard being insane. 

I definitely suggest getting the elites expansion. It’s a couple bucks but gives a lot more theme and strategy to the game by allowing surviving troops to level up.

My only complaint involves the UI for activating the expansions you have bought. There are expansions to the base game, an expandalone game, and expansions to that other game. Some of the expansions work with the base game some work on both and some only on the second game. 

This is the nature of the game, very complicated, but the UI doesn’t help at all by explaining the difference between playing Onslaught with the Dreadmire expansion and playing Dreadmire with the Onslaught expansion. It’s very confusing with no information to decipher the puzzle.

### 1/5 — Fun but crashed first time I switched apps.

*2020-03-11, version 2.2.2*

It’s gripping. I’m buying the board game. But this thing crashed. I was in my way to winning. I don’t even think it saved that I was winning, so a total waste of time.

Update: crash the second time I played and I did not even switch out of the app. Considering asking for a refund because this is unplayable.

### 1/5 — Buggy Mess

*2019-05-27, version 2.2.2*

Buttons are tied to animations. So hitting the done button twice too quickly will skip entire phases, bypassing the game’s own warning prompts. An easy fix to this would be the ability to go back to acquire phase from deploy phase.

A few cards need more detail, such as the Prototype Heat Lance Shotgun which doesn’t specify that it only targets it’s own lane. There are also other bugs such as being unable to discard certain cards during wrap-up phase, which ended up costing me a Hard game on the very last round.

### 5/5 — Must be fixed! Works great!

*2018-11-24, version 2.1.1*

I took a chance on this, seeing all of the negative reviews, but the crashing issues are fixed!  I had no issues on my iPhone X or iPad Air 2.  It requires patience learning how to activate abilities/card effects (play the tutorial).  Of course it's more fun co-op, but solo mode is a blast.  This game is alot of fun and very challenging.  Good luck!

## Frequently asked questions about XenoShyft

### What kind of game is XenoShyft?

XenoShyft is a cooperative deck-building base defense strategy game. Players work together to defend their NorTec Corporation base from waves of alien creatures. The goal is to survive nine rounds of combat by strategically using cards to upgrade troops and build defenses.

### How many players can play XenoShyft?

The game supports 1 to 4 players. It is fully cooperative, meaning all players work together towards a common goal. This makes it suitable for solo play or for a group of friends looking for a challenging co-op experience.

### What are the system requirements for XenoShyft?

This app requires iPhone 5 or newer, iPad 3 or newer, iPad Mini, or iPod Touch 5th generation or newer. Please ensure your device meets these specifications before attempting to download and play.

### What is the main objective in XenoShyft?

The primary objective is to survive nine rounds of intense alien onslaughts. It's not about eliminating all enemies, but rather outlasting them until the NorTec Corporation's field operations are completed. Successful survival means you and your allies live to fight another day.

### How does monetization work in XenoShyft?

The base game is free to download and play. However, there are in-app purchases available, likely for additional content, expansions, or cosmetic items. The description does not mention any advertisements.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.2.2 — 2019-04-03

Discover the new expansion and embrace the Forbidden Sciences!

### 2.1.1 — 2018-08-29

Fixed new game configuration

### 2.1 — 2018-08-20

Number of enemies per wave now adjusted based on difficulty chosen.
Grafting & Psychogenics expansions can no longer be used unless the core game is Onslaught. (Dreadmire versions coming soon!)
Improved error messages/experience when authenticating
Hades’ Fury Flamethrower can now only target enemies in the same lane it is deployed
Fixed a lock-up when players tried to zoom cards when they were transitioning into/out of combat.
Fixed display errors on iPhone X
Fixed an issue whereas the chosen enemy type wouldn't be properly reflected in-game.
Fixed a rare issue when authenticating
Fixed audio volume sliders
Fixed a few other potential lock-up issues in-game.

### 2.0.3 — 2018-05-30

Damage prevention will now only be removed after an Advancement phase.
Items with an asterisk denoting the wave number now will show the asterisk instead of the converted value.
Fixed an issue where Low Quality textures would not be properly used when the setting was on. (Should fix crashes in older devices)
Fixed a bug when randomizing Divisions for a new game.
Fixed a couple of issues with the tutorial.
Added an opt-in Dialog for analytics, crash logs, etc; default is now opt-out.
Added Privacy option in the Options menu.

### 2.0.2 — 2018-04-26

Welcome to the Dreadmire!

XenoShyft: Dreadmire, which can be played as a standalone game or mixed with assets from XenoShyft: Onslaught, brings a new XenoShyft experience to your screen, with eight new troop types, 20 new item types, and more than 40 fearsome new enemy types.

Dreadmire also introduces Weather Cards, influencing enemies and equipment alike, these cards make the battlefield more treacherous and unpredictable!

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## More apps by Twin Sails Interactive

- [Small World - The Board Game](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/small-world-the-board-game/id364165557)
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- [Patchwork The Game](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/patchwork-the-game/id1075851197)

All apps by Twin Sails Interactive: https://appshunter.io/developer/1135862620

## Related topics

[aces etm](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/aces-etm)

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*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 2026-09-01.*