Comparison

Dead Cells vs SkySea

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Roguevania exploration
  • Frantic 2D action combat
  • Nonlinear progression
  • Permadeath with learning
  • Unlockable weapons and skills
  • DLC content packs
Read full description

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.

About

SkySea

Embark on an endless arcade adventure, tapping to navigate through challenging obstacles across diverse worlds. Unlock unique characters and utilize power-ups to survive and compete globally. Enjoy daily rewards and an optional VIP pass for an ad-free experience.

Highlights
  • One-tap gameplay
  • Endless obstacle courses
  • 10 unique worlds
  • Unlockable characters
  • 6 strategic power-ups
  • Global leaderboard
  • Daily rewards and spin wheel
Features
Read full description

SkySea is a one-tap arcade adventure. Simple to learn, impossible to master. Tap your way through obstacles as you guide your character across 12 unique worlds. How far can you fly? 4 WAYS TO PLAY - LEVELS — Endless hand-built courses that keep getting harder. Every set of levels brings a new twist: fog, wind gusts, gates, breathing gaps, speed bursts and more — and they stack as you climb. Checkpoints save your progress along the way. - DAILY CHALLENGE — One new course every day, the same for every player. One daily leaderboard. Bonus coins for playing. - RETRO — Classic arcade speed. Pure skill. Pure focus. - TURBO — Faster, wilder, and packed with power-ups. Extra lives available. 12 UNIQUE CHARACTERS, 12 WORLDS - Ace the Fish — Ocean World - Blaze the Penguin — Arctic World - Nova the Bee — Garden World - Storm the Balloon — Desert World - Pixel the Ghost — Graveyard World - Drift the Rocket — Space World - Echo the Dragon — Volcano World ...and 5 more to unlock — plus limited-time seasonal characters that are yours forever once you grab them. TRAILS Leave your mark in the sky: Rainbow, Sparkle, Ember, Frost and Toxic trails. Pure style, unlocked with coins. 6 POWER-UP BOOSTS - Magnet — pull in coins from across the screen - Ghost — phase through obstacles - Slow-Mo — bullet-time control - Double Coins — 2x rewards on your run - Extra Life — one more chance when you crash - Shield — survive one hit GLOBAL LEADERBOARDS Retro, Turbo, Levels and the Daily Challenge each have their own worldwide leaderboard. Every run counts. DAILY REWARDS & SPIN WHEEL - Free daily coin reward — 7 days of escalating bonuses - Spin the wheel every 4 hours for free coins - Levels lives refill on their own — get a notification when they're full, or watch an ad for one right away - No paywalls. Everything can be earned by playing. VIP PASS One unlock, forever: - No banner or interstitial ads - A 4th life in Levels, and lives refill faster (3 hours instead of 4) - A free extra life in every Turbo run PRIVACY Your progress stays on your device. The leaderboard stores only your display name and scores. Ads are provided by Google AdMob and its partners. Full privacy policy: https://znptech.github.io/skysea-privacy/ One tap to start. One tap to keep going. Let's see how high you can fly. Built with love by an indie studio in Chicago.

Screenshots

Dead Cells4 screens
SkySea4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: SkySea at Free against Dead Cells's $8.99. SkySea also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 88%). Dead Cells's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (12K vs 4). On rating, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

SkySea is free to download; Dead Cells costs $8.99 up front. Dead Cells sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and SkySea sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SkySea holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dead Cells has 12K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Dead Cells's written reviews are positive against 100% of SkySea's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dead Cells ships an update every 2 months, SkySea every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Dead Cells versus SkySea: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDead CellsSkySea
Price$8.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (12K ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews88.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings12K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#12 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15 — better17.2
Further details — not scored
Size1.8 GB28 MB
Age rating12+9+
DeveloperPlaydigiousZNP Tech

Customer experience

Dead Cells

All ratings12,331 ratings
Positive95.6%
Neutral1.5%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews1,789 reviews
Positive88.5%
Neutral3.6%
Negative7.9%

SkySea

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

SkySea

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Dead Cells

One-time4
  • The Bad Seed$3.99
  • Fatal Falls$3.99
  • The Queen and the Sea$3.99
Show 1 more
  • Return to Castlevania$6.99
6 purchases

SkySea

One-time6
  • Starter Pack$1.99
  • Classic Pack$3.99
  • Value Pack$7.99
Show 3 more
  • VIP Pass$9.99
  • Mega Pack$14.99
  • Ultimate Pack$29.99

Questions

Is Dead Cells free?
Dead Cells costs $8.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is SkySea free?
SkySea is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dead Cells or SkySea?
SkySea is rated higher. Dead Cells averages 4.8 out of 5 from 12K ratings, while SkySea averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Dead Cells or SkySea have ads?
SkySea shows ads; Dead Cells does not.
Which is updated more often, Dead Cells or SkySea?
Dead Cells ships an update every 2 months, and SkySea every 5 weeks. Most recently, Dead Cells was updated on October 28, 2026 and SkySea on October 14, 2026.

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