Comparison

Life Is Strange vs Alien

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

Head to head
About

Life Is Strange

This episodic adventure game lets you rewind time to alter past events and influence the present and future. Uncover a dark mystery as you navigate the life of a photography student and her best friend. Your choices lead to multiple, impactful endings.

Highlights
  • Rewind time to change events
  • Choice and consequence gameplay
  • Multiple endings
  • Episodic story
  • Hand-painted visuals
  • Licensed indie soundtrack
Features
Read full description

** Supported Devices: OS: Xcode 14.3 supported devices, iOS 12 or higher, All devices starting from iPhone X. ** Life Is Strange is a five part episodic game that sets out to revolutionize story-based choice and consequence games by allowing the player to rewind time and affect the past, present, and future. Follow the story of Max Caulfield, a photography senior who discovers she can rewind time while saving her best friend Chloe Price. The pair soon find themselves investigating the mysterious disappearance of fellow student Rachel Amber, uncovering a dark side to life in Arcadia Bay. Meanwhile, Max must quickly learn that changing the past can sometimes lead to a devastating future. - A beautifully written modern adventure game; - Rewind time to change the course of events; - Multiple endings depending on the choices you make; - Striking, hand-painted visuals; - Distinct, licensed indie soundtrack featuring Alt-J, Foals, Angus & Julia Stone, Jose Gonzales and more. ** Reviews and Accolades ** Life is Strange, People's Choice Award winner at the International Mobile Game Awards 2018 Mac Game of the Year, United States 5/5 "A must-have." - The Examiner 5/5 "Something truly special." - International Business Times "One of the best games I've played in years." - Forbes 10/10 "An impressive coming of age story." - Darkzero Life is Strange, Game Artist Award winner at the International Mobile Game Awards 2018 8/10 "Rare and precious." - Edge 8.5/10 "OUTSTANDING." - GameInformer 90% "Dontnod have clearly put a lot of effort into the little details and it’s worth your time paying attention to their work." – Siliconera 8.5/10 “The climax of Episode Two is one of the most compelling — and devastating — things I’ve ever experienced in a game, because it’s so real, so understandable. Dontnod nails it.” – Polygon 4.5/5 "life is strange has me hooked" - HardcoreGamer 8/10 ".…has the potential to outdo both Telltale Games and Quantic Dream." - Metro

About

Alien

Embark on a terrifying quest for survival aboard a space station. Unprepared and underequipped, you must use your wits and courage to escape an unknown menace. Experience a faithful mobile replication of the classic survival horror game, complete with AAA visuals and an arresting narrative.

Highlights
  • Survival horror gameplay
  • Stealth and evasion mechanics
  • Resource scavenging and crafting
  • Touchscreen controls with customization
  • Gamepad and mouse/keyboard support
  • Faithful mobile replication of AAA visuals
  • Includes all DLC content
Read full description

READ BEFORE DOWNLOADING: Please expand this description and read the full list of supported devices below to confirm that your device is supported. When she left Earth, Ellen Ripley promised her daughter she would return home to celebrate her 11th birthday. She never made it. Fifteen years later, Amanda Ripley learns that the flight recorder from her mother’s ship has been recovered. Amanda enters Sevastopol space station to finally solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance, only to confront an unknown menace. Engage in a terrifying quest for survival as you navigate the labyrinthine Sevastopol station. Unprepared and underequipped, you will need all your wits and daring to get out alive. TWO MISSIONS FREE Play missions 1 and 2 for free, then unlock the complete game and all DLC via a single in-app purchase. A SURVIVAL HORROR MASTERPIECE The stunning AAA visuals, arresting narrative and terrifying atmosphere of Creative Assembly’s classic – faithfully replicated on mobile. This is the complete survival horror experience brought to mobile without compromise. TAILORED FOR MOBILE Run, hide and survive using a redesigned interface, offering total touchscreen control and full customisation options. Resize and reposition on-screen buttons and joysticks, or play with a gamepad or any iPadOS-compatible mouse & keyboard. INSPIRED BY THE 1979 FILM ‘ALIEN’ A game that returns to the roots of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror masterpiece, using its atmosphere, art direction and production values to deliver the same terrifying thrills. IMPROVISE AND SURVIVE Explore Sevastopol station and scavenge for hidden resources, crafting items and tech to improvise weapons and deterrents against the ultimate threat. ADAPT TO THE ALIEN’S MOVES To evade the Alien as it hunts you down, make calculated moves and use your environment, from crawling through ventilation ducts to hiding in the shadows. THE COMPLETE COLLECTION Buy the full game with all seven DLCs included, such as ‘Last Survivor’ — a recreation of Ellen Ripley’s final mission on board the Nostromo. === Alien: Isolation requires iOS 16.5 or later and 11GB of storage. For installation we recommend having at least 22GB of free space. Supported iPhones: • iPhone 8 Plus • iPhone X and later • iPhone SE 2 (2020) and later Supported iPads: • iPad mini 5 (2019) and later • iPad Air 3 (2019) and later • iPad 7 (2019) and later • iPad Pro 1st gen (2015), 12.9" model only • iPad Pro 2nd gen (2017) and later • If you require assistance, please contact our support team at support@feralinteractive.com © 2024 20th Century Studios. Alien: Isolation game software, excluding 20th Century Studios elements © SEGA. Originally developed by The Creative Assembly Limited. Creative Assembly and the Creative Assembly logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of The Creative Assembly Limited. SEGA and the SEGA logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Corporation. Developed for and published on iOS by Feral Interactive. iOS and the iOS logo are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Feral and the Feral logo are trademarks of Feral Interactive Ltd. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

Screenshots

Life Is Strange4 screens
Alien4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Alien at 4.5 against Life Is Strange's 4.0. Alien also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 53%) and chart position (#75 vs unranked). Life Is Strange's advantage is ratings volume (9.6K vs 1.3K) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.5). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Life Is Strange sells 7 one-off in-app purchases and Alien sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Alien holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Life Is Strange has 9.6K ratings behind it against 1.3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 53% of Life Is Strange's written reviews are positive against 80% of Alien's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Life Is Strange ships an update every 3 months, Alien every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Life Is Strange versus Alien: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLife Is StrangeAlien
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (9.6K ratings)4.5 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews53.3% of reviews79.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9.6K — better1.3K
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#75 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.5
Further details — not scored
Size911 MB1.9 GB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperSQUARE ENIXFeral Interactive Ltd

Customer experience

Life Is Strange

All ratings9,571 ratings
Positive72.7%
Neutral7.5%
Negative19.8%
Written reviews719 reviews
Positive53.3%
Neutral13.8%
Negative33.0%

Alien

All ratings1,292 ratings
Positive86.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews875 reviews
Positive79.7%
Neutral5.0%
Negative15.3%

User reviews

Life Is Strange

From 9.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Stunning graphics
  • 🤩 Captivating story and characters
  • 👍 Immersive gameplay experience
  • 🎨 Beautiful visuals and cinematic feel
  • 💎 Emotional and impactful narrative

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Journal/screen scaling issues on newer iPhones
  • 🔋 Battery-draining
  • 🤬 Recurring bugs and glitches
  • 🤷‍♀️ Choices don't significantly impact the ending

Alien

From 1.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent port with great performance
  • 👍 Impressive graphics and visuals
  • 🎮 Smooth controls and controller support
  • 🎬 Captures the Alien franchise atmosphere well
  • 🕹️ Immersive gameplay experience

Room to improve

  • 🔋 Device overheating and battery drain issues
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🕹️ Touchscreen controls not ideal for certain gameplay elements
  • 🕰️ Long loading times and unskippable intro

Bugs and requests

Life Is Strange

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game crashes when trying to exit journal
  • Saved progress being lost or reset
  • Cutscenes and interactions not triggering properly

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add option to disable profanity
  • Improve compatibility with latest iOS devices
  • Allow starting from any episode with choices applied

Alien

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Certain puzzles/objectives not triggering correctly
  • Sound issues like audio cutting out
  • Compatibility problems with older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more graphics/performance options
  • Improve auto-save and checkpoint system
  • Implement Magic Keyboard support
  • Include Chinese language support

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Life Is Strange

One-time7
  • Épisode 2$0.99
  • Episode 3$2.99
  • Life is Strange Episode 4$2.99
Show 4 more
  • Life is Strange Episode 5$2.99
  • Life is Strange Episode 4-5$4.99
  • Season Pass [Episodes 3-5]$6.99
  • Season Pass [Episodes 2-5]$7.99
1 purchases

Alien

One-time1
  • Full Game Unlock$14.99

Questions

Is Life Is Strange free?
Life Is Strange is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Alien free?
Alien is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Life Is Strange or Alien?
Alien is rated higher. Life Is Strange averages 4.0 out of 5 from 9.6K ratings, while Alien averages 4.5 from 1.3K ratings.
Do Life Is Strange or Alien have ads?
Neither Life Is Strange nor Alien shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Life Is Strange or Alien?
Life Is Strange ships an update every 3 months, and Alien every 2 months. Most recently, Life Is Strange was updated on October 31, 2026 and Alien on October 30, 2026.

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