Shaft Run vs Dark Wave
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shaft Run
Navigate procedurally generated levels by jumping and dodging obstacles. Utilize unique power-ups and unlock different suits with special abilities to overcome challenges in this engaging platformer.
- Procedurally generated levels
- Obstacle dodging
- Unique power-ups
- Unlockable suits with abilities
- Over 80 levels
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Can you take on the shaft? Jump your way through randomly generated levels while dodging obstacles and using unique power-ups to your advantage. Shaft Run features: • More than 80 procedurally generated levels • Multiple suits with different abilities • 3 unique power-ups
Dark Wave
Navigate a winding road filled with dangers, conquering challenges across 5 chapters and 50 levels. Compete globally in endless mode or enjoy a minimalist, ad-free experience. Play across Apple devices and sync progress with iCloud.
- 5 Chapters, 50 Levels
- Endless mode with global leaderboard
- Minimalist design
- No ads or in-app purchases
- Play on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV
- iCloud progress sync
- Multi-language support
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Hello Light Surfer... Can you conquer the Dark Wave? Power your way through an ever-changing winding road and its dangers FEATURES • 5 Chapters, 50 Levels: Each chapter introduces a range of new enemies • Endless mode: Compete with others in a global leaderboard • Minimalist design • No ads, No in-app purchases • Play on your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV • Sync your progress using iCloud • Fully localized for English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, German, Italian, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese and Russian
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Dark Wave at 52% against Shaft Run's 0%. Dark Wave also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). Shaft Run's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). On update cadence and device support 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
Shaft Run is free to download; Dark Wave costs $1.99 up front. Shaft Run sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Dark Wave asks for nothing beyond the download.
Shaft Run holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dark Wave has 16 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of Shaft Run's written reviews are positive against 52% of Dark Wave's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Shaft Run ships an update every 2 months, Dark Wave every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shaft Run | Dark Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.6 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 52.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 16 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 71 MB | 103 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dominik Ringler | Semidome Inc. |
Customer experience
Shaft Run
Dark Wave
In-app purchases
Shaft Run
- Diamonds +2$0.39
- Diamonds +10$0.69
- Remove Ads$0.99
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- Diamonds +1000$0.99
- Diamonds +20$1.49
- Diamonds +30$1.99
- Diamonds +50$2.99
- Diamonds +100$3.99
- Diamonds +500$4.99
- Diamonds +1000$5.99
Dark Wave
No in-app purchases
