Five Minute Dungeon Timer vs Escape the Dark Castle
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Five Minute Dungeon Timer
This app acts as a timer for the 5-Minute Dungeon board game. It visually displays the remaining time and provides audio cues at key intervals, allowing players to fully immerse themselves in gameplay without needing to constantly check a separate timer.
- Displays time remaining
- Announces timer milestones
- Focuses gameplay
- Audio cues
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The 5-Minute Dungeon Timer App is designed to be used with the 5-Minute Dungeon board game. It displays the time remaining in the round and announces when the timer hits certain milestones, leaving players free to focus on playing the game.
Escape the Dark Castle
Enhance your tabletop experience with this companion app. Track prisoner stats, manage companions, and access digital rules. Enjoy atmospheric sound and animations that deepen immersion in your dark adventure.
- Track Prisoner HP with visual feedback
- Record and manage Plague Levels
- Manage Companion stats and abilities
- Access digital rules and FAQ
- Integrated Death Book with contextual scenes
- Solo and local multiplayer support
- Pass the virtual 'YOU' token
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Track your prisoners’ stats in style with the Escape the Dark Castle companion app, featuring atmospheric sound and animation that blend with and enhance the tabletop experience. Sitting alongside your character card, the companion app offers the following features: • Track your Prisoner HP Brutal heavyweight shackles represent your prisoners current HP. Press and drag to see the chain-links glow and rattle as you adjust your HP, while a tension building heartbeat increases in speed as you draw closer to death! • Record your Plague Level The Plague menu allows you to keep track of your plague level using tally marks as directed by the game rules. When you pass a Plague Threshold an animation is triggered - automatically adjusting your HP on the shackles. • Manage Companions When Companions enter the game, select them via the Companions drop-down menu, where you can adjust their HP and trigger their special abilities to mirror their in-game actions. • Access Digital Rules and FAQ Via the Settings menu you can access browser-based searchable digital rules and FAQ to help you get quick clarifications during play without hunting through the physical rule book. • Connected Soundtrack The settings menu also has links to the atmospheric ETDC soundtrack on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp – meaning you can easily play it in the background, combining with the SFX from this app for full immersion into your dark adventure. • Solo or Local Multiplayer You can play a 2-prisoner solo game on one smartphone, or Host a game which up to three other players can Join using their own devices. During hosted games, all player’s prisoner names and HP levels are displayed in real time on each device, and you will phase in and out of game states together as a group for maximum atmospheric connectivity. • Pass the virtual ‘YOU’ token Tap on the YOU icon and a list of your fellow prisoners will be displayed. Choose who to pass the token to and you’ll hear a heavy metallic sound on that players' device as the token lands with them! • Free Integrated Death Book! When your prisoner dies, enter the code of the card which finished you off and the app will display your doom – a contextual death scene to read aloud and bring full narrative closure to the story. The Death Book is normally sold separately for £9.99 but is included and integrated here for free! Please note: -A copy of the Escape the Dark Castle board game is required to use this application. -This application is compatible with iOS 11 onwards. -An internet connection is required to use the network features of this application. -This application is limited to one user per device. Escape the Dark Castle © Copyright 2017-2021 Themeborne Ltd. Escape the Dark, Escape the Dark Castle, the Escape the Dark Castle logo, Themeborne and the Themeborne logo are either ® or ™, and/or © Themeborne Ltd, registered in the UK. All rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced without specific permission. Actual components may vary from those shown. Themeborne Ltd is located at Kirkham. House, Norwich, NR3 2AG, UK. www.themeborne.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Five Minute Dungeon Timer at Free against Escape the Dark Castle's $0.99. Five Minute Dungeon Timer also leads on ratings volume (136 vs 30). Escape the Dark Castle's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months) and chart position (#70 vs unranked). On rating, 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
Five Minute Dungeon Timer is free to download; Escape the Dark Castle costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.3 for Five Minute Dungeon Timer against 3.3 for Escape the Dark Castle. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 136 and 30 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 38% of Five Minute Dungeon Timer's written reviews are positive against 33% of Escape the Dark Castle's.
Five Minute Dungeon Timer ships an update every 5 months, Escape the Dark Castle monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Five Minute Dungeon Timer | Escape the Dark Castle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 3.3 (136 ratings) — better | 3.3 (30 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 38.3% of reviews — better | 33.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 136 — better | 30 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #70 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Wiggles 3D | Themeborne |
Customer experience
Five Minute Dungeon Timer
Escape the Dark Castle
Bugs and requests
Five Minute Dungeon Timer
Reported bugs
10 issues- No audio output on iPhone devices (widespread and persistent)
- Audio stops working after first game or extended inactivity
- Sound incompatible with iPhone silent/mute switch (design flaw)
- Audio only functions with Bluetooth speakers on some iPhones
- App doesn't appear in phone settings on some devices
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- Timer acts sporadic and unreliable after recent updates
- Incompatibility with iPhone 6, 6s, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 11, 13 Pro, 14, XR
- Audio works on iPad but not on iPhone (device-specific issue)
- Audio broken after iOS updates (iOS 17.4.1, iOS 18)
- No sound on Android version despite working on other platforms
Requested features
12 requests- Allow sound to play in silent/mute mode like other apps
- Add more narrator voices and character variety
- Multiple different lines per narrator instead of repetitive phrases
- Dynamic music that intensifies as time runs out
- Background music during pauses or between rounds
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- Different narration for different game bosses/stages
- Personal best time tracking and win/loss ratio statistics
- Custom recording feature for personalized narration
- Full screen support for iPhone X and newer models
- Landscape mode optimization
- French, German, and Spanish narrator options
- Apple TV app version
Escape the Dark Castle
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Five Minute Dungeon Timer
No in-app purchases
Escape the Dark Castle
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Five Minute Dungeon Timer free?
Is Escape the Dark Castle free?
Which has better reviews, Five Minute Dungeon Timer or Escape the Dark Castle?
Do Five Minute Dungeon Timer or Escape the Dark Castle have ads?
Which is updated more often, Five Minute Dungeon Timer or Escape the Dark Castle?
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