Comparison

Bleak Sword vs Dead Cells+

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

Head to head
About

Bleak Sword

Embark on a dark fantasy adventure across cursed diorama battlefields. Battle creatures through nine chapters, lifting a legendary curse by upgrading your hero with magic and items. Challenge yourself further in Arena Mode with unlockable achievements.

Highlights
  • Diorama battlefields
  • Nine tense chapters
  • Powerful magic invocation
  • Item discovery
  • Character leveling and stat upgrades
  • Arena Mode
  • Unlockable achievements
Features
Read full description

Developed by more8bit Bleak Sword is a dark fantasy action game tasking players to struggle across compact, cursed diorama battlefields. Through nine tense chapters, heroes must lift the curse of the legendary Bleak Sword by striking down all manner of creatures in every forest, swamp, castle, and dungeon on their journey. Invoke powerful magic, uncover helpful items, and level up your character to upgrade your stats before facing down menacing guardians. Once the curse has been lifted the challenging Arena Mode and thirty unlockable achievements await even the most accomplished warrior. Bleak Sword is designed to be able to play it easily with elegant controls allowing heroes to roll, parry, attack and counter-attack using basic movements on gamepads and touch controls. Scored by award-winning composer Jim Guthrie with sound by famed designer Joonas Turner.

About

Dead Cells+

Embark on a challenging 2D action platformer adventure as a failed alchemic experiment. Explore a dynamic, interconnected world, master combat, and unlock new paths with each playthrough. This version includes extensive DLC content with new storylines, biomes, enemies, weapons, and bosses.

Highlights
  • Roguevania exploration
  • Frantic 2D combat
  • Nonlinear progression
  • Daily leaderboards
  • Return to Castlevania DLC
  • The Bad Seed DLC
  • Fatal Falls DLC
Features
Read full description

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. The indie hit Dead Cells+ is now slaying foes on Apple Arcade! Main Features • ONLY ON APPLE ARCADE - New daily leaderboards : Test your skills against players all over the world! • 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 the sewers, right? • Play at your own pace: Will you explore every nook and cranny of the castle, or rush to the end? [THIS VERSION ALSO INCLUDES ALL OF THE FOLLOWING CONTENT] *Latest updates are available: Clean Cut & The End is Near* RETURN TO CASTLEVANIA DLC • 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. Carefully redesigned for Apple Arcade 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 • Game Center achievements If you run into a problem, please contact us at support@playdigious.mail.helpshift.com u with as much information as possible on the issue.

Screenshots

Bleak Sword4 screens
Dead Cells+4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Dead Cells+ at free against Bleak Sword's paid. Dead Cells+ also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (14K vs 899). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Dead Cells+ holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dead Cells+ has 14K ratings behind it against 899, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Bleak Sword's written reviews are positive against 90% of Dead Cells+'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bleak Sword ships an update every 8 months, Dead Cells+ every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Bleak Sword versus Dead Cells+: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBleak SwordDead Cells+
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (899 ratings)4.9 (14K ratings) — better
Positive reviews79.9% of reviews89.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings89914K — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size467 MB1.8 GB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperDevolver Digital, Inc.Playdigious

Customer experience

Bleak Sword

All ratings899 ratings
Positive87.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative8.6%
Written reviews552 reviews
Positive79.9%
Neutral7.4%
Negative12.7%

Dead Cells+

All ratings13,598 ratings
Positive97.2%
Neutral1.1%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews693 reviews
Positive89.9%
Neutral4.3%
Negative5.8%

User reviews

Bleak Sword

From 899 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth and responsive controls
  • 👍 Satisfying combat mechanics
  • 🎨 Unique and atmospheric pixel art style
  • 🕹️ Challenging but fair gameplay
  • 🕰️ Suitable for short play sessions

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional save data loss issues
  • 🔍 Difficulty in tracking character on screen
  • 🤕 Overly punishing difficulty curve
  • 🧠 Lack of progression and upgrade systems
  • 🔍 Blurry visuals on some devices

Dead Cells+

From 14K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth gameplay
  • 👍 Excellent controls
  • 🎨 Beautiful pixel art
  • 🔍 Engaging exploration
  • 💡 Helpful accessibility options

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional audio issues
  • 🔋 Performance drops on some devices
  • 🤔 Lack of cloud save sync across devices
  • 🕹️ Touchscreen controls can be finicky

Bugs and requests

Bleak Sword

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Controls becoming unresponsive after app switch
  • Inconsistent blocking mechanics

Requested features

5 requests
  • Landscape mode support for tablets
  • Ability to skip credits after first completion
  • More enemy and boss variety
  • Customizable controls
  • Expanded story and lore

Dead Cells+

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Game crashes or freezes during boss battles
  • Map not updating properly after teleporting
  • Controller buttons not working as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to listen to own music/podcasts while playing
  • More customization options for button layout
  • Multiplayer or co-op mode
  • Improved save/progress sync across devices

In-app purchases

None

Bleak Sword

No in-app purchases

None

Dead Cells+

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bleak Sword free?
Bleak Sword is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dead Cells+ free?
Dead Cells+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bleak Sword or Dead Cells+?
Dead Cells+ is rated higher. Bleak Sword averages 4.5 out of 5 from 899 ratings, while Dead Cells+ averages 4.9 from 14K ratings.
Do Bleak Sword or Dead Cells+ have ads?
Neither Bleak Sword nor Dead Cells+ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bleak Sword or Dead Cells+?
Bleak Sword ships an update every 8 months, and Dead Cells+ every 3 months. Most recently, Bleak Sword was updated on September 20, 2026 and Dead Cells+ on September 23, 2026.

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