Comparison

JoinDispatch vs Backburn

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

Head to head
About

JoinDispatch

Experience the thrill of managing emergency dispatches in a text-based adventure. Make critical decisions, earn stars, and unlock new opportunities as a Citizen Responder. Navigate limited resources and even rewind time to correct mistakes.

Highlights
  • Achieve 5-Star rating
  • Earn skills and unlock opportunities
  • Resource management
  • Rewind time function
  • Choice-driven narrative
  • Simplified decisions
Features
Read full description

Calls are flooding in and all that stands between life and death are your choices. Be alert. There may be something more on the line. Join Today! State-run emergency dispatch systems are overwhelmed. Privatized, crowdsourced dispatch response is the new wave in emergency services, with JoinDispatch leading the pack thanks to their Rapid Response Server. Join our amazing team of Citizen Responders today to begin your first shift from your phone or JoinDispatch Home Terminal! Your Manager will work closely with you to ensure you're on track to earn stars - and to save lives, of course! JoinDispatch is a text-based adventure game by Kyle McCullough, written by Kyle McCullough & Suki-Rose Simakis. Original Music by Morgan Z Whirledge. NOTE TO NEW RESPONDERS: Some recent employees have reported strange caller interactions and evidence of attempted hacks into the JoinDispatch OS. Though no one is quite certain why this is occurring, we can assure you - everything's fine and secure. Features: -Strive to achieve a coveted 5-Star rating. -Earn skills that will help you meet your goals and unlock new opportunities and characters. -Protect and Conserve: use your resources wisely, they are highly limited. -Rewind Time Itself: Only the JoinDispatch system offers you our patented rewind function, allowing you to undo that last mistake. -Simplified decisions and seamless navigation will have you clicking your way to great success. -Your choices will carve a new path through your shift each time you play.

About

Backburn

This turn-based strategy game lets you plan and execute wildfire containment. Learn from each decision by previewing consequences before committing resources. It offers a campaign mode, daily challenges, and detailed post-turn analysis.

Highlights
  • Turn-based wildfire simulation
  • Offline gameplay
  • Preview consequences before committing
  • Campaign mode with difficulty levels
  • Daily challenges
  • Detailed post-turn analysis
  • Resource management
Features
Read full description

See the consequence of your next move. Backburn is an offline, turn-based wildfire strategy game for iPhone and iPad, with 30 designed incidents and tools to learn from each decision. LEARN BY PLAYING ONE TURN Start with an isolated copy of the first incident. Drop water, plan a short line or hold position, then compare the result with the same fire and weather without new orders. Practice does not change your campaign, saves, stars or Daily results. GIVE ORDERS YOU UNDERSTAND Move resources, queue control lines, place water or retardant, start a burnout beside completed line and evacuate housing groups. A queued line takes travel and construction; it is not an instant firebreak. Review orders in Decision Desk to see each resource's assignment, fatigue and supplies. After Advance, review what actually changed during that turn, including fire growth, completed line, losses and injuries. This detailed last-turn view lasts for the current session. PREVIEW BEFORE COMMITTING Forecast marks the game's next-turn fire and structure losses. Undo reverses orders placed since the last Advance in the current session. Decision Desk compares current orders with holding crews; Strategy Lab explores up to six turns of three fixed policies. These previews leave the live incident unchanged. A CAMPAIGN AND A DAILY CHALLENGE Choose Recruit, Standard or Veteran difficulty. Every Advance represents twenty minutes of game time. Designed weather schedules change wind, humidity and spotting pressure. Play a date-based Daily Incident generated on your device, build a streak and share a text result. The first completed Daily attempt counts; later attempts are practice. RESUME AND REVIEW Resume saved campaign or Daily incidents, reopen completed reports, and compare the current and previous attempt for each scenario. The Service Record tracks 19 commendations from your recorded play. A Field Guide explains the game rules, and the first two campaign incidents include action-based training. One purchase. No ads, subscription, in-app purchases or account. Gameplay and progress work offline. External support links, sharing destinations and Apple's native rating prompt may use their own services. No app-managed cloud sync, live weather or online leaderboard. Landscape play on iPhone and iPad. The app interface and screenshots are in English. Backburn is a fictional strategy game with fire behavior adapted for play, not a real-world fire forecast, emergency tool or professional training.

Screenshots

JoinDispatch4 screens
Backburn4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: JoinDispatch at 60% against Backburn's 0%. JoinDispatch also leads on price (Free vs $0.99). Backburn's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

JoinDispatch is free to download; Backburn costs $0.99 up front. JoinDispatch sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Backburn asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

JoinDispatch ships an update weekly, Backburn every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
JoinDispatch versus Backburn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJoinDispatchBackburn
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.2 (894 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews59.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings894 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 8 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB119 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperKyle McCulloughRobert Corbin

Customer experience

JoinDispatch

All ratings898 ratings
Positive78.3%
Neutral6.7%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews234 reviews
Positive59.8%
Neutral15.8%
Negative24.4%

Backburn

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

JoinDispatch

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Calls getting stuck on hold
  • Skills disappearing or not working as expected
  • Repeated resets of progress
  • Unresponsive UI and black screens

Requested features

4 requests
  • More episodes/shifts to continue the story
  • Ability to replay past calls/choices
  • Clearer progression and skill system
  • Offline mode or reduced battery drain

Backburn

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

JoinDispatch

One-time2
  • Shift Unlock$3.99
  • Season 1 Pass$9.99
None

Backburn

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is JoinDispatch free?
JoinDispatch is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Backburn free?
Backburn costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do JoinDispatch or Backburn have ads?
Neither JoinDispatch nor Backburn shows ads.
Which is updated more often, JoinDispatch or Backburn?
JoinDispatch ships an update weekly, and Backburn every 8 days. Most recently, JoinDispatch was updated on November 2, 2026 and Backburn on November 8, 2026.

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