Diabolical vs Hosted Games
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Diabolical
Become the ultimate criminal mastermind in this text-based interactive novel. Make choices to build an evil empire, hire minions, and achieve world domination, or destruction. Explore different villain archetypes and romance options.
- Choose your villainous path
- Hire and manage minions
- Make impactful story choices
- Develop your evil empire
- Explore romance options
- Achieve world domination or destruction
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Start practicing your evil laugh! As the world's greatest criminal mastermind, choose a lair, hire a minion, and steal the world's largest ball of aluminum foil! (Or, destroy the world. FINE.) "Diabolical" is a 130,000-word interactive novel by Nick Aires, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based--without graphics or sound effects--and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. Famous, feared, or filthy rich—why not all three? You've got the money and the motives to build an evil empire worthy of the most ruthless villain the world has ever seen. Crush the good guys and terrorize the populace! Stamp a big red "FAIL" on your enemies' foreheads! Plunder your way to world domination – or sit back and pet your kitty while your henchmen do it for you. Will you be a high-tech daredevil, a ruthless military soldier, or an apparition terrifying to behold? What calling card will you leave at the scene of your crimes? Whatever your choices, the results will be diabolical. • Play a villainous story of scheming, grandstanding, and laughing evilly. • Interview and hire the best possible (or best available) minion. • Decide when to use trickery, when to use force, and when to hide behind henchmen. • Choose the ultimate, guaranteed-to-be-infamous nickname. • Play as male or female, with straight, gay, and bisexual romance options. • Destroy the world!
Hosted Games
Explore a vast library of text-based interactive novels where your choices shape the narrative. Engage in diverse genres from horror and fantasy to romance and sci-fi, all powered by your imagination. Create your own stories using a simple scripting language.
- Vast library of interactive novels
- Text-based storytelling
- Choice-driven narratives
- Multiple genres available
- Create your own games
- ChoiceScript programming language
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The choice is yours! Joust for love and glory, solve an eldritch murder, find romance, or battle aliens with Magitek? "Hosted Games" is a magnificent library of interactive novels, written by authors like you. Hosted Games are entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. Try a few of these fan favorites: • Zombie Exodus — Fight your way out of a zombie-filled city in this interactive horror story! • Fallen Hero — Step into the shoes of a telepath turned villain and explore the dark side. • Wayhaven Chronicles — Something stalks the shadows, and it's up to you to find out what! • Sabres of Infinity — Step into the boots of a Royal Dragoon in this tale of war in a fantasy world. • Golden Rose — Explore a medieval Europe where history took a different turn! • Soul Stone War — Fight for the future—your own, and the world's! Your fate is yours. • I, the Forgotten One — Can you defeat the rebellion in your kingdom before your past consumes you? • An Unexpectedly Green Journey — From birth to death, craft your orc's legacy. Are you destined for glory? • Fields of Asphodel — Join the ranks of the Underworld's misfit gods and make it your home! • Tin Star — Ride out into the Old West as a U.S. marshal and craft a legend. Authors just like you have developed these games using ChoiceScript, a simple programming language for writing multiple-choice interactive novels. Writing games with ChoiceScript is easy and fun, even for authors with no programming experience. Learn more at https://hostedgames.org
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Hosted Games at 4.7 against Diabolical's 4.1. Hosted Games also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 13 months) and ratings volume (1K vs 45). Diabolical's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. Diabolical sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Hosted Games sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Hosted Games holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hosted Games has 1K ratings behind it against 45, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 77% and 77% positive.
Diabolical ships an update every 13 months, Hosted Games fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Diabolical | Hosted Games |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (45 ratings) | 4.7 (1K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.0% of reviews | 77.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 45 | 1K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 13 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 97 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | +12 |
| Developer | Choice of Games LLC | Hosted Games LLC |
Customer experience
Diabolical
Hosted Games
Bugs and requests
Diabolical
Reported bugs
1 issue- Bug fix???
Requested features
14 requests- Sequel needed
- More like this game
- Werewolf story
- More choices that affect story
- Choice of alien game
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- More vs hero interaction
- Longer battles
- More villain POV things
- Improved sequel
- More customization (lairs, sidekicks, stats)
- More interactive than other gamebooks
- More improvements to character development
- More content like this
- More interactive releases
Hosted Games
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Diabolical
- Chapters 3 through 12$4.99
Hosted Games
- Keeper of the Sun and Moon$6.99
- Fallen Hero: Rebirth$6.99
- Hero or Villain: Genesis$6.99
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- A Kiss from Death$6.99
- Wayhaven Chronicles: Book One$7.99
- The Soul Stone War$7.99
- Breach: The Archangel Job$8.99
- Wayhaven Chronicles: Book Two$8.99
- The Golden Rose: Book One$11.99
- Wayhaven Chronicles Three$11.99
Questions
Is Diabolical free?
Is Hosted Games free?
Which has better reviews, Diabolical or Hosted Games?
Do Diabolical or Hosted Games have ads?
Which is updated more often, Diabolical or Hosted Games?
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