Comparison

Abalon vs Dawncaster

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

Head to head
About

Abalon

Engage in tactical turn-based combat and deck-building strategy in a tabletop-inspired world. Command units, cast spells, and outwit opponents with creative combos and strategic positioning. Explore diverse biomes, collect cards, and build the perfect deck to become a legend.

Highlights
  • Turn-based tactical combat
  • Deck building strategy
  • Top-down battlefield control
  • Over 500 unique cards
  • Character-based abilities
  • Creative combo system
  • Procedurally generated world exploration
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Abalon, a legendary tactical roguelike and deck building RPG! CARDS. DICE. TACTICS. Embark on epic roguelike adventures to explore a tabletop inspired world and discover its secrets. Abalon combines turn based tactical combat with deck building strategy. Defeat monstrous hordes and powerful bosses to reap the rewards of treasures, allies, and spells. Roll the dice and become a dungeon crawling legend! COMMAND LIKE A GOD Command from a top-down perspective that gives you ultimate control over battlefield tactics. Your characters look up to you (literally) as their god to indicate they are ready to receive your orders. Commands are intuitive: Drag cards to cast spells. Drag warriors to enemies to attack. Drag healers to injured allies to heal. Play fast and fluid with 3-5 minute battles and without having to wait for animations. You can even undo failed attacks to try different approaches. Endless possibilities are at your fingertips! OUTWIT YOUR OPPONENTS Defeat overwhelming odds by mastering tactical positions, backstabbing, feinting counterattacks, knocking enemies into allies to trigger combos, leveraging traps for bonus damage and exploiting spell synergies to manipulate the battlefield in your favor. Abalon is deceptively simple to learn with an unrivaled depth of mechanics that are challenging to master. Position matters. Facing matters. Terrain matters. BUILD THE PERFECT DECK Choose compelling characters like squirrel hurling druids, menacing liche kings, psychic lizard wizards and steampunk time traveling rats. Abalon has over 500 cards including 225 hand-crafted characters with distinct strengths and weaknesses. Select your favorite summoner, build your team and construct a deck of 20 cards. Abalon differs from other role-playing games by removing grindy leveling systems in favor of fixed character stats and abilities and interchangeable gear-based upgrades. Use everyone you have and experiment to create unique strategies. UNLEASH CREATIVE COMBOS Combine your units and spells to create game-breaking synergies: Hurl a squirrel at your opponent and command your critter to bite them in the butt. Cast Animal Growth to mutate it into a super hulk squirrel. Then use Breed to multiply it into an army of hulk squirrels and decimate your opponent in the most satisfying way! Discover something new each time you play. EXPLORE. ROLL DICE. MAKE FRIENDS. Explore an ever-changing fantasy world filled with colorful woodlands, frozen peaks, barren deserts, and perilous dungeons. Abalon is rich in lore, both gritty and humorous, and each biome offers its own characters to find and mysteries to unravel. Collect and roll D20 dice to determine the outcome of fate encounters and make friends with charming bears and birthday goblins. EXPAND YOUR COLLECTION Play for free and grow your collection with paid expansions. Abalon is a premium CCG and RPG that respects your time and money. There are no ads, randomized booster packs, cards to dust, or grinding to level up. Each expansion contains a curated set of content so you know what you are paying for upfront. Like a board game hobby, Abalon’s expansions enhance your existing content. We aim to support the game’s development for the next 10 years and beyond with additional cards, challenge modifiers, game modes and more for infinite replayability. PLAY ON ANY DEVICE ANYTIME ANYWHERE Abalon offers a true cross-platform experience with support for phones, tablets, computers, TVs, portrait and landscape orientations and offline play. ABOUT D20STUDIOS We’re a passionate indie game team who aim to inspire creativity, critical thinking and positive community in people around the world. We value player-driven development, quality products and excellent customer service, and we’d love to hear how we can make your Abalon experience exceptional. Discord: https://discord.gg/d20studios Email: contact@d20studios.com

About

Dawncaster

Embark on a tactical deck-building adventure with over 900 illustrated cards. Explore a mysterious world, master unique class abilities, and forge your own path through a rich narrative. Enjoy a complete premium experience with no ads or microtransactions.

Highlights
  • Over 900 hand-illustrated cards
  • Unique class abilities
  • Innovative energy system
  • Richly illustrated world
  • Randomized encounters
  • Unlockable content
Features
Read full description

Dawncaster: Epic Deck-Building Adventure Dive into a world of strategy and magic in Dawncaster, the ultimate deck-building experience with over 900 stunning hand-illustrated cards. Will you become a shadow-dancing rogue, an indomitable warrior, a mysterious Seeker, or forge your own path? Unravel the dark secrets of Aethos in this tactical masterpiece that revolutionizes mobile card gaming. Redefining Card Games - Experience groundbreaking mechanics that seasoned players will love - Blend unique class abilities with powerful weapons and enchantments - Master an innovative energy system, freeing you from traditional deckbuilder constraints A World Shrouded in Mystery - Embark on a quest to find the legendary 'Dawnbringer' lost in the corrupted realm of Umbris - Immerse yourself in a richly illustrated world with compelling dialogue and meaningful choices - Shape the fate of a desperate world through your actions Complete Gaming Experience - Unlock all cards and classes with your purchase - no microtransactions! - Open up new exciting area's with optional expansion packs for even more content - Enjoy a premium game free from ads, timers, or pay-to-win mechanics Endless Replayability - Every run is unique with randomized encounters and battles - Unlock new starting cards, portraits, and challenges - Test your skills with increasing difficulty levels Join the Dawncaster Community - Connect with fellow players and developers on the Discord server - Share strategies, get the latest updates, and influence the game's future - Be part of a passionate community that's shaping the future of Dawncaster Ready to answer the call? Download Dawncaster now and begin your legendary journey! Discord: https://discord.gg/pfeMG9c Website: https://dawncaster.wanderlost.games

Screenshots

Abalon4 screens
Dawncaster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Abalon at Free against Dawncaster's $4.99. Abalon also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 10 days) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Dawncaster's advantage is chart position (#8 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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

Abalon is free to download; Dawncaster costs $4.99 up front. Abalon sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Dawncaster sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Abalon holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1K and 929 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of Abalon's written reviews are positive against 80% of Dawncaster's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Abalon ships an update every 2 days, Dawncaster every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Abalon versus Dawncaster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAbalonDawncaster
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.8 (1K ratings) — better4.7 (929 ratings)
Positive reviews84.1% of reviews — better80.2% of reviews
Number of ratings1K — better929
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#8 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size117 MB1.4 GB
Age rating9+9+
DeveloperD20Studios, LLCRick van der Wal

Customer experience

Abalon

All ratings1,010 ratings
Positive96.9%
Neutral1.2%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews290 reviews
Positive84.1%
Neutral3.1%
Negative12.8%

Dawncaster

All ratings924 ratings
Positive90.6%
Neutral3.1%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews459 reviews
Positive80.2%
Neutral7.4%
Negative12.4%

User reviews

Abalon

From 1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fantastic strategy game
  • 👍 Fun game
  • 👍 Highly recommended
  • 👍 Great for busy RPG parents
  • 👍 Way better than expected

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Not recommended at the moment
  • 🐛 Very unbalanced and costs $30
  • 🐛 Game crashes after loading
  • 🐛 Koumpounophobia (fear of buttons)
  • 🐛 Controlling units is frustrating

Dawncaster

From 929 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Constant updates
  • 🔥 Addictive gameplay loop
  • 🔍 Discovering new secrets
  • 💎 Excellent value for money
  • 🎨 Beautiful art and visuals

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔍 Steep learning curve
  • 🔁 Repetitive enemy and boss encounters
  • 🕰️ Slow progression and unlock system
  • 🔧 Unbalanced difficulty spikes

Bugs and requests

Abalon

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Bugs in second chapter dungeon
  • Unable to use satchel items

Requested features

3 requests
  • Controller support for Backbone and other third party controllers
  • More variation in encounter types
  • Dark mode option

Dawncaster

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes after certain card interactions
  • Incorrect card behavior or descriptions
  • Progression loss after updates
  • Compatibility issues on newer devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Endless or challenge mode
  • More language support (e.g. Chinese, Spanish, Russian)
  • Improved tutorial and onboarding
  • Ability to toggle DLC content on/off
  • Checkpoints or save states during runs

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Abalon

One-time5
  • Animal Gear$3.99
  • Angels & Demons$7.99
  • Dark Legion$7.99
Show 2 more
  • Mean & Green$7.99
  • Space & Time$7.99
13 purchases

Dawncaster

One-time13
  • Vaul of the Void Promo PackFree
  • Synthesis Support Pack$3.99
  • Infinitum Support Banner$3.99
Show 10 more
  • Eclypse Supporter Pack$3.99
  • Buy the devs a coffee$4.99
  • Tribes of Twilight$4.99
  • Death of Divinity$4.99
  • Masks of Misery$4.99
  • Siege of Shadows$4.99
  • Dawncaster Origins Bundle$4.99
  • Nexus of Nightmares$5.99
  • Infernal Invasions$5.99
  • Dawncaster Mega Bundle$12.99

Questions

Is Abalon free?
Abalon is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dawncaster free?
Dawncaster costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Abalon or Dawncaster?
Abalon is rated higher. Abalon averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1K ratings, while Dawncaster averages 4.7 from 929 ratings.
Do Abalon or Dawncaster have ads?
Neither Abalon nor Dawncaster shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Abalon or Dawncaster?
Abalon ships an update every 2 days, and Dawncaster every 10 days. Most recently, Abalon was updated on October 26, 2026 and Dawncaster on October 27, 2026.

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