ZeroVector vs Stellar Mercenaries
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ZeroVector
Experience an endless retro arcade vertical shoot 'em up with challenging boss battles and power-up stacking. Utilize a unique REVERSAL ability to flip enemy bullets into missiles. Compete in multiplayer Conquest mode to capture sectors for your faction.
- Endless waves of enemies
- Four unique boss battles
- Collectible power-ups and upgrades
- Stackable shields and EMP
- REVERSAL ability to flip bullets
- Multiplayer Conquest mode
- Faction-based sector control
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ZeroVector is an endless retro arcade vertical shoot ‘em up! Blast your way through endless waves of enemy ships seeing how long you can survive and what high score you can achieve. There are four different bosses to encounter, each with their own firing patterns and strategies to beat. Along the way you pick up and use various items like shields, EMP, bomb, and weapon upgrades. Items like shields and EMP can stack so getting two in succession gives the extra powerful deflector and EMP extend. You have a special REVERSAL ability that charges every 20 seconds. Once charged you tap with a second finger onto the screen (or double tap) and all enemy bullets flip around into seeking missiles helping you escape impossible odds and get epic clears. A multiplayer Conquest mode arrives with the 0.2 update and lets you compete against other players in three factions (red, blue, and purple) to capture and control hexagonal sectors on a global map. Achieve the high score on a sector to capture it for your faction and work together to take control of the map. Scores decay over time and sectors can be replayed to defend them and capturing surrounding sectors helps protect them. It’s an all new innovative multidimensional leaderboard system!
Stellar Mercenaries
Engage in offline, vertical scrolling arcade action with this sci-fi RPG. Upgrade your ship, weapons, and abilities to battle rival mercenaries and conquer the solar system. Enjoy endless procedurally generated missions with diverse objectives and challenges.
- Vertical scrolling arcade shooter
- Offline capable gameplay
- Upgradable ships and weapons
- Customizable loadouts
- Procedurally generated missions
- Rival mercenary system
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Ready to vanquish your enemies and change the solar system forever from anywhere? Stellar Mercs is a vertical scrolling, offline capable, action arcade shooter with upgradable ships, weapons, and special abilities. Customize your loadouts for each mission depending on the environments and enemies you'll face! Each mission will reward you with unlocks and cash to continue building your arsenal. You're not the only mercenary out there - the more successful and accomplished you become, the more attention you'll attract. Enemy mercenaries can become persistent arch-rivals, leveling up along side you. Defeating them will net you great rewards, but if you die at their hands, they'll grow even further in power. The fun is never-ending! Fly missions through endless procedurally generated missions with a variety of environments, objectives, hazards, enemies, and rewards. Hijack cargo from speeding space trains, break into heavily guarded research and development space stations to acquire new prototype ships to fly, or defeat mighty leviathan capital ships in your quest to become the wealthiest, most powerful mercenary in the system! Stellar Mercs operates as a single handed action arcade game, so you can play comfortably on the go. SM is offline capable, so even without signal you can keep gaming and conquering the solar system! Configure your spacecraft's loadout and autoshoot your way to victory - focus on maneuvering through hazards and waves of enemies while you employ special abilities for maximum carnage!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Stellar Mercenaries at every 3 weeks against ZeroVector's every 4 months. ZeroVector's advantage is ratings volume (145 vs 38) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 12.0). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. ZeroVector sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Stellar Mercenaries sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for ZeroVector against 4.8 for Stellar Mercenaries. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 145 and 38 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 92% of ZeroVector's written reviews are positive against 86% of Stellar Mercenaries's.
ZeroVector ships an update every 4 months, Stellar Mercenaries every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ZeroVector | Stellar Mercenaries |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (145 ratings) | 4.8 (38 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 91.7% of reviews — better | 85.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 145 — better | 38 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 198 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | blackpawn.com | Quest Builders LLC |
Customer experience
ZeroVector
Stellar Mercenaries
In-app purchases
ZeroVector
- Remove Ads$0.99
- Buy blackpawn a taco$0.99
Stellar Mercenaries
- Currency - Small Pack$1.99
- Starter Pack - Basic$1.99
- Gem Pack - Small$2.99
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- Currency - Medium Pack$3.99
- Stater Pack - Advanced$5.99
- Gem Pack - Medium$7.99
- Currency - Large Pack$7.99
- Gem Pack - Large$15.99
- Starter Pack - Legendary$15.99
Questions
Is ZeroVector free?
Is Stellar Mercenaries free?
Which has better reviews, ZeroVector or Stellar Mercenaries?
Do ZeroVector or Stellar Mercenaries have ads?
Which is updated more often, ZeroVector or Stellar Mercenaries?
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