Paradigm City vs The Superlatives
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Paradigm City
Step into a near-future world altered by superhumans. As a new graduate from a powered individual academy, you must find your place in Paradigm City. Your choices will shape your destiny, determining whether you become a hero or a villain in this text-based interactive fantasy novel.
- Choose your gender and orientation
- Experience a full life arc
- Multiple branching endings
- Utilize brawn, bravado, and brains
- Develop electrokinetic superpowers
- Team up with elite heroes
- Uncover conspiracies
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The Golden Age of heroes is over, but you're just beginning. Will you use your powers to help the world or help yourself? Set on a near-future Earth that has been irrevocably altered by the arrival of superhumans, the world has been dealing with a radical shift in the nature of humanity. For thirty years, those with world-altering powers - referred to as capes - have been at the forefront of the world's media. There has been heroes, there has been villains, and there has been world-shattering confrontations when those two groups came into contact. For a time, those individuals walked the world like modern deities. For a time, it was good. But things change. Given time, all things resolve to entropy. The Golden Age is over. The player, a member of the newest graduating class of an international academy for powered individuals, needs to find their place in this new world, and whether that place will be determined by their own hand - or by the machinations of others. Assigned to the troubled Paradigm City, it'll be up to the player to determine whether their name becomes a byword for fame or infamy, idealism or pragmatism, and loyalty or ambition. "Paradigm City" is a 110,000 word interactive fantasy novel by James Rhoden, 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. • Play as male, female or non-binary, straight, gay or bi! • Experience your life from youth to the end of your first big mission! • Multiple endings, with differences both big and small! How will your actions affect the future of the world? • Utilise the three precepts of epic heroism - brawn, bravado and brains - to solve challenges! • Increase the potency of your electrokinetic superpower to overcome dangerous threats! • Work with a team of elite heroes to solve a mystery - your relationships with them will determine their fates, and whether you'll learn their stories. • Uncover and unveil a conspiracy, or work to use it for your own ends! • Embrace the traditional values of the classical crusader, or embody the cutting-edge pragmatics of modern powered heroes! • Sixty achievements! • Three romance options to choose from - or don't, and keep things strictly professional!
The Superlatives
Lead a team of unique heroes with superpowers in Victorian London to battle alien invaders and clockwork monsters. This text-based interactive novel challenges you to build trust within your team, uncover secrets, and protect the Earth from aetherfalls.
- Lead a superpowered team
- Battle Martian warships and clockwork monsters
- Text-based interactive novel
- Choose your character's gender and orientation
- Negotiate with alien monarchs
- Protect Earth from aetherfalls
- Uncover villainous plots
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Lead a superpowered team of "Superlatives" to defend 19th-century Victorian London! Battle a Martian warship, clockwork monsters, and nefarious inventors. "The Superlatives: Aetherfall" is a 260,000-word interactive novel by Alice Ripley. It’s entirely text-based, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. The prestigious Society for the Advancement of Individuals of Superlative Talent and the Protection of the Queen has invited you to become their newest member! But on the very day the Society plans to initiate you, unknown Villains destroy the Society headquarters and kidnap your colleagues! As the sole remaining full member of the Superlative Society, you must initiate new recruits to investigate the abduction. Meet your team: Nimble—faster than lightning; Wailer—a "banshee" with sharp blades and sonic shriek attacks; Arturek—the gruff Martian warrior; Tua—a Venusian who commands the power of plants; and Black Orchid—a strangely familiar new recruit. Your efforts are bolstered by your faithful Clockwork assistant, Gatsby, and your always-butting-in rival, Hallow. Will your gain your team’s trust and convince them to work together, or will they fall apart under the pressure? Will you cut a deal with London’s Villains, or even turn the Society into Villains yourself? Will you trust the mysterious Dusk and Mr. Ink, who offer you help, or will you uncover their many secrets? • Play as male, female, or nonbinary; gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, or aromantic • Draw power from your preternatural nature, alien heritage, or genius gadgets • Protect the Earth from torrential aetherfalls • Keep your identity secret from your nosy landlady, Mrs. Rathbone • Negotiate with minute Mercurian monarchs (Mercurians stand only four inches tall) • Push your teammates to transcend their origins or pursue their destiny • Foil the Nefarious Clockwork Contraptions of Dr. Eisengeist and discover his origins Don your mask, take to the skies, and God save the Queen!
Screenshots
Verdict
Paradigm City and The Superlatives both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 96% of The Superlatives's written reviews are positive against 27% of Paradigm City's. The Superlatives also leads on ratings volume (46 vs 7). Paradigm City's advantage is chart position (#190 vs unranked) and price ($4.99 vs $6.99). On rating, update cadence, 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
Paradigm City costs $4.99 and The Superlatives $6.99 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 — 4.6 for Paradigm City against 4.7 for The Superlatives. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Superlatives has 46 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 27% of Paradigm City's written reviews are positive against 96% of The Superlatives's.
Paradigm City ships an update every 15 months, The Superlatives every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on August 24, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Paradigm City | The Superlatives |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $6.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (7 ratings) | 4.7 (46 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 27.3% of reviews | 95.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 | 46 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 15 months | Every 13 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #190 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Hosted Games LLC | Choice of Games LLC |
Customer experience
Paradigm City
The Superlatives
In-app purchases
Paradigm City
No in-app purchases
The Superlatives
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Paradigm City free?
Is The Superlatives free?
Which has better reviews, Paradigm City or The Superlatives?
Do Paradigm City or The Superlatives have ads?
Which is updated more often, Paradigm City or The Superlatives?
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