Comparison

Cataclysm vs Pathos

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Cataclysm

A challenging post-apocalyptic survival roguelike with procedural generation. Explore, craft, and manage your needs to stay alive in a world overrun by monsters. Build, customize vehicles, and discover secrets in a vast, open-ended experience.

Highlights
  • Procedural world generation
  • Deep crafting system
  • Vehicle construction and modification
  • Survival mechanics (hunger, thirst, morale)
  • Bionics and mutations
  • NPC interaction and quests
  • Open-ended exploration
Features
Read full description

Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is a post-apocalyptic zombie survival roguelike game with procedural world generation. It is heavily focused on crafting and exploration. The game is set in near-future New England after a catastrophic event killed most of the human population and spawned various monsters and hazards. Surviving is difficult: you have been thrown, ill-equipped, into a landscape now riddled with monstrosities of which flesh eating zombies are neither the strangest nor the deadliest. Unlike most roguelikes, it has no goal: the player is free to explore the procedurally generated map, clear areas of monsters, work with NPCs, and build shelters and vehicles. The gameplay is mainly based on day-to-day survival, and the game tracks parameters like hunger, thirst, morale, illness and temperature which the player must manage to stay alive. There are several other things in the game such as NPC Quests and Secret Structures. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is heavily focused on crafting with many basic necessities such as clothing and food being craftable from raw items that are found lying around. There are several professions and scenarios to choose from during character creation, as well as a variety of positive and negative traits. The game also provides the player with a robust platform to construct structures and build/modify vehicles. The game includes vehicles, bionics, mutations, realistic fire and smoke effects, real-life seasons and a wide array of combat and crafting skills. Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead is licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 Original author: Whales (retired) Project Manager: KevinGranade Website/Forum: GlyphGryph Current Main Developers/Github Managers: KevinGranade, Rivet-the-Zombie, BevapDin, Coolthulu, i2amroy For a full list of contributors please see: https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/contributors

About

Pathos

Embark on a challenging roguelike adventure inspired by Nethack's rule set. Select from 13 distinct classes and delve into a perilous dungeon. Your mission is to confront your nemesis in hell and escape with as much treasure as possible.

Highlights
  • Nethack-inspired gameplay
  • 13 playable classes
  • Deep dungeon exploration
  • Defeat nemesis in hell
  • Loot collection and escape
Features
Read full description

Pathos is a roguelike adventure game inspired by the rule set from Nethack. Choose from 13 classes and journey deep into the dungeon. Descend to hell to defeat your nemesis before escaping the dungeon with all the loot you can carry! Email mailto:hodgskin.callan@gmail.com Twitter https://twitter.com/callan_hodgskin Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/pathos_nethack Discord https://discord.gg/TRhRZhX Made with Invention https://gitlab.com/hodgskin-callan/Invention

Screenshots

Cataclysm4 screens
Pathos4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pathos at 4.7 against Cataclysm's 3.9. Pathos also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (89% vs 68%). Cataclysm's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 12.2). On price, ratings volume, ads and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Cataclysm sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pathos asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pathos holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 323 and 360 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Cataclysm's written reviews are positive against 89% of Pathos's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cataclysm ships an update every 3 weeks, Pathos every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Cataclysm versus Pathos: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCataclysmPathos
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.9 (323 ratings)4.7 (360 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.4% of reviews88.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings323360 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS7.0 — better12.2
Further details — not scored
Size146 MB142 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperDancing BottleCallan Hodgskin

Customer experience

Cataclysm

All ratings323 ratings
Positive72.4%
Neutral4.6%
Negative22.9%
Written reviews244 reviews
Positive68.4%
Neutral8.2%
Negative23.4%

Pathos

All ratings360 ratings
Positive91.9%
Neutral3.1%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews220 reviews
Positive88.6%
Neutral4.5%
Negative6.8%

Bugs and requests

Cataclysm

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Keyboard issues (gets stuck, doesn't work properly)
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices/iOS versions
  • Crashes and freezes

Requested features

4 requests
  • Update the game to latest stable version
  • Improve touch controls and UI for mobile
  • Add screen zooming/magnification options
  • Provide better language support and options

Pathos

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Cataclysm

One-time1
  • Awesome Sound Pack$0.99
None

Pathos

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cataclysm free?
Cataclysm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pathos free?
Pathos is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Cataclysm or Pathos?
Pathos is rated higher. Cataclysm averages 3.9 out of 5 from 323 ratings, while Pathos averages 4.7 from 360 ratings.
Do Cataclysm or Pathos have ads?
Neither Cataclysm nor Pathos shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cataclysm or Pathos?
Cataclysm ships an update every 3 weeks, and Pathos every 4 months. Most recently, Cataclysm was updated on October 13, 2026 and Pathos on October 16, 2026.

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