Shift Shaft vs Troll Patrol
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shift Shaft
This puzzle game challenges players to match three or more rocks by rotating the entire game board. Upgrade your character's stats and unlock items as you explore an underground world and battle unique enemies. Enjoy an uninterrupted gaming experience with no ads or in-app purchases.
- Rotate the game board
- Match 3 or more rocks
- Upgrade player stats
- Unlock over 30 items
- Battle 5 unique enemies
- Explore underground world
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“What really blew my mind with Shift Shaft and the main thing that makes it feel unlike any other game out there is your ability to rotate the entire board at will. It sounds simple but this changes everything… This is truly a thinking person’s matching game.” - Jared Nelson, TouchArcade.com A match & rotate puzzle Manipulate your player and the board by rotating it and clearing groups of 3 or more rocks. Build up your player Collect and spend gems to upgrade your stats and unlock over 30 different items during each run. Explore the underground world Go up against 5 unique enemies and the gem-eating spider to uncover the world beneath the mines. No ads & no in-app purchases Play for as long you'd like with no ads or pay walls.
Troll Patrol
Defend your troll den from invading villagers and heroes in this unique puzzle RPG. Match tiles to attack enemies, heal yourself with potions, and strengthen your defenses. Protect your home and family from relentless waves of attackers.
- Tile-matching combat
- RPG progression
- Enemy and weapon variety
- Skill and powerup system
- Cave upgrades
- Quests and events
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"A Troll's Tale - Troll Patrol" is a puzzle game which combines the tile-matching and RPG genres by offering a unique experience: Play as the last defender of the threatened troll den where vicious village people and heroes from far away castles and kingdoms knock down your door. Stand firm, take whatever weapon is close and fight them off to get your family and friends to safety. Protect what is rightfully yours, your home, your heritage. They come for blood, for revenge, to still their blood thirst. But you won't allow it. More and more enemies pour through the broken door and by connecting them to sword tiles you can fight them off. Once you get hit you can connect potions to heal your wounds or connect shields to improve your armor. Connecting gold might lead to new treasures that help you defend what is yours and keep their filthy hands of your stuff. Features: - Over 50 unlockable types of enemies - 6 unlockable weapon types - 7 unlockable playable classes - Endless waves of enemies - Over 50 active and passive skills and powerups - Over 40 event cards with multiple choices and outcomes - Over 15 quests to choose from - Improve your cave for permanent bonuses - Leaderboard and Achievements
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Troll Patrol at Free against Shift Shaft's $2.99. Troll Patrol also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). Shift Shaft's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (100% vs 73%). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and device support 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
Troll Patrol is free to download; Shift Shaft costs $2.99 up front. Troll Patrol sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Shift Shaft asks for nothing beyond the download.
Shift Shaft holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 143 and 48 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Shift Shaft's written reviews are positive against 73% of Troll Patrol's.
Shift Shaft ships an update fortnightly, Troll Patrol every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 2, 2026.
| Parameter | Shift Shaft | Troll Patrol |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.9 (143 ratings) — better | 4.6 (48 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 73.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 143 — better | 48 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 34 MB | 204 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | William Katz | Philippe Schober |
Customer experience
Shift Shaft
Troll Patrol
Bugs and requests
Shift Shaft
Requested features
2 requests- Non-pixelated graphics
- Mid-run save option
Troll Patrol
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Shift Shaft
No in-app purchases
Troll Patrol
- Unlock Game$4.99








