Dead Cells vs Hyper Light Drifter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Dead Cells
Explore a sprawling, ever-changing castle as a failed alchemic experiment. Master frantic 2D combat with a variety of weapons and skills against dangerous foes. Death is not the end; learn from each attempt to progress through this roguevania action platformer.
- Roguevania exploration
- Frantic 2D action combat
- Nonlinear progression
- Permadeath with learning
- Unlockable weapons and skills
- DLC content packs
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Death is not the end. Play as a failed alchemic experiment and explore the sprawling, ever-changing castle to find out what happened on this gloomy island…! That is, assuming you’re able to fight your way past its keepers. Dead Cells is a roguevania action platformer that will require you to master frantic 2D combat with a wide variety of weapons and skills against merciless minions and boss. Kill. Die. Learn. Repeat. First available on PC and consoles, the indie hit Dead Cells is now slaying foes on mobile! Main Features • Roguevania: The progressive exploration of an interconnected world, with the replayability of a rogue-lite and the adrenaline-pumping threat of permadeath • Frantic and Dynamic 2D Action: Learn your enemies’ patterns to stay alive, or prepare to be sent back to your cell before you can say “baguette” • Nonlinear Progression: Unlock new levels with every death, opt for the path that suits your current build, your playstyle or just your mood. Surely, the ramparts can’t be as bad as the sewers, right? • Play at your own pace: Will you explore every nook and cranny of the castle, or rush to the end? *Latest updates are available: Clean Cut & The End is Near* RETURN TO CASTLEVANIA DLC Time for some vampire slaying • New storyline - overcome the Ruler of Darkness alongside Alucard and Richter Belmont, • 2 new biomes - Explore Dracula's Castle and its outskirts • 9 new monsters - Werewolves, haunted armors, and medusas are waiting for you • 14 new weapons - wield the Vampire Killer or the Holy Water to defeat creatures of the night, • 3 new bosses - go fangs to fangs against Death and Dracula himself • 20 new outfits - dress as your favorite Castlevania characters such as Simon and Richter Belmont or Alucard • Alternative soundtracks - play along 51 Castlevania original tracks and 12 tunes reimagined in the style of Dead Cells THE BAD SEED DLC You reap what you sow • New levels to lose your head in the not-so-peaceful Dilapidated Arboretum and the noxious Morass of the Banished • New monsters to rip to pieces: get to know the locals, such as the Jerkshroom and the Yeeter • New weapons to play with: trim sticking-out heads with the Scythe Claw, or make them dance to the sound of the Rhythm n' Bouzouki • New boss to fight against: Mama Tick is dying to meet you FATAL FALLS DLC Ready for a leap of faith? • 3 new biomes - Get some fresh air at the Fractured Shrines, splash around at the Undying Shores and take a picture at the Mausoleum • 8 new monsters - The Cold Blooded Guardians and their friends would love to teach you about their culture. ... Wait, aren't those relatives of yours in the Undying Shores...? • 7 new weapons - Lil' Serenade is perfect for breaking the ice with the locals, although the Snake Fangs would make for a perfect souvenir... • 1 new boss - The Scarecrow is very proud of his gardening skills and won't hesitate to show off QUEEN AND THE SEA DLC Take it to the sea! • 2 new biomes - Battle your way through a rotten shipwreck, or scale a burning lighthouse and confront your deadliest foe yet. • 9 new weapons, including a throwable shark, a trident and a pirate hook hand (eyepatch not included). • 2 new bosses - Don't lose your head before you meet the Queen! This DLC also gives you the usual extras: - A not-so-cute pet. - Loads of new outfits. - New enemies to bash. WARNING: Devices with less than 2 Gb of RAM may not be able to run this content correctly. We recommend not to take this DLC if your device is under 2gb of RAM. Carefully redesigned for mobile with a revamped interface • Two game modes available: Original & Auto-Hit • Custom controls & More touch controls options available: Change the buttons’ position and size to your liking, swipe to dodge… • MFi external controller support • No ads, no F2P mechanics! If you run into a problem, please contact us at support@playdigious.mail.helpshift.com with as much information as possible on the issue.
Hyper Light Drifter
Embark on an action-adventure RPG journey through a vast, ruined world filled with danger and lost technologies. Explore, battle vicious enemies, and uncover secrets in this hand-animated, visually stunning experience.
- Hand-animated visuals
- Vast, ruined world exploration
- Challenging combat
- Weapon upgrades and skills
- Branching paths and secrets
- Evocative soundtrack
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Finally, Heart Machine's award winning slash-'em-up arrives to iOS in the most polished and refined version yet, the Special Edition. ► Winner of the Audience Award and Excellence in Visual Art awards of the prestigious Independent Games Festival. ► 14 + nominations among the Best Visual Design, Best Audio and Best original Game categories. ► 9/10 Destructoid - A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage. ► 9.5/10 Game Informer - The combination of soundtrack, art, and combat creates a rabbit hole worth your full exploration. ► Eurogamer Recommended - Heart Machine's slash-'em-up is punishing and precise - and incredibly beautiful. ► 9/10 GameSpot - It is more than simply pretty; Hyper Light Drifter uses its visuals to both guide and relax you. The grandest vistas calm your pulse between difficult, breathless combat sequences. ► 8.5 Polygon - Hyper Light Drifter deftly mixes contemplative moments with breakneck action. ► 5 Stars Darkstation - The top-down action-RPG Hyper Light Drifter is an amazing game: gorgeous, a fascinating world to explore, tight controls, beautiful music, and the faith in the player for you to figure things out on your own. Echoes of a dark and violent past resonate throughout a savage land, steeped in treasure and blood. Drifters of this world are the collectors of forgotten knowledge, lost technologies and broken histories. Our Drifter is haunted by an insatiable illness, traveling further into the lands of Buried Time, hoping to discover a way to quiet the vicious disease. Hyper Light Drifter is an action adventure RPG in the vein of the best 16-bit classics, with modernized mechanics and designs on a much grander scale. Explore a beautiful, vast and ruined world riddled with dangers and lost technologies. Features: ● 120 fps gameplay on iPad Pro / 60 fps on iPhone and iPad. ● Compatible with MFi controllers. ● Game Center achievements. ● Haptic Vibration. ● From each character to subtle background elements, everything is lovingly hand-animated. ● Easy to pick up, difficult to master; enemies are vicious and numerous, hazards will easily crush your frail body, and friendly faces remain rare. ● Upgrade weapons, learn new skills, discover equipment and traverse a dark, detailed world with branching paths and secrets abound. ● Evocative soundtrack composed by Disasterpeace. ● All the content from the original game + more weapons, enemies and areas from the Special edition.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hyper Light Drifter at none against Dead Cells's 4. Hyper Light Drifter also leads on price ($4.99 vs $8.99). Dead Cells's advantage is chart position (#12 vs #140). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence 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
Dead Cells costs $8.99 and Hyper Light Drifter $4.99 up front. Dead Cells sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Hyper Light Drifter asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Dead Cells against 4.9 for Hyper Light Drifter. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 12K and 6.7K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of Dead Cells's written reviews are positive against 83% of Hyper Light Drifter's.
Dead Cells ships an update every 5 weeks, Hyper Light Drifter every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Dead Cells | Hyper Light Drifter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $8.99 | $4.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (12K ratings) | 4.9 (6.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 88.5% of reviews — better | 83.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 12K — better | 6.7K |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #12 — better | #140 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.8 GB | 813 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Playdigious | Abylight S.L. |
Customer experience
Dead Cells
Hyper Light Drifter
User reviews
Dead Cells
From 12K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth gameplay
- 👍 Excellent controls
- 💎 High-quality graphics
- 🎮 Great controller support
- 🔥 Addictive and challenging
Room to improve
- 🐛 Audio glitches and bugs
- 🤔 Lack of custom mode
- 📱 Finicky touch controls
- 🔇 No background music support
Hyper Light Drifter
From 6.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🔥 Gorgeous game
- 👍 Engaging gameplay
- 🎨 Beautiful art style
- 🎶 Excellent soundtrack
- 🤯 Challenging but fair
Room to improve
- 🤖 Unclear controls/tutorials
- 🤕 Frustrating difficulty
- 🤔 Lack of story explanation
- 🤖 Unresponsive touch controls
- 🤕 Imprecise aiming/platforming
Bugs and requests
Dead Cells
Reported bugs
3 issues- Saves not compatible across platforms
- Texture and graphical issues on some devices
- Persistent memory leaks causing performance drops
Requested features
4 requests- Add Chinese language support
- Implement cross-save functionality
- Introduce online multiplayer mode
- Optimize for older devices
Hyper Light Drifter
Reported bugs
3 issues- Game crashes when fighting in the tower
- Background glitches and visual issues
- Inconsistent frame rate on some devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add controller remapping
- Improve touch control responsiveness
- Provide more story context
- Adjust difficulty settings
- Add widescreen support for newer devices
In-app purchases
Dead Cells
- The Bad Seed$3.99
- Fatal Falls$3.99
- The Queen and the Sea$3.99
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- Return to Castlevania$6.99
Hyper Light Drifter
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Dead Cells free?
Is Hyper Light Drifter free?
Which has better reviews, Dead Cells or Hyper Light Drifter?
Do Dead Cells or Hyper Light Drifter have ads?
Which is updated more often, Dead Cells or Hyper Light Drifter?
Which is more popular, Dead Cells or Hyper Light Drifter?
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