Comparison

Darkest Space vs Pulse Cross

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

Head to head
About

Darkest Space

Features
Read full description

An hard space shooter. You must collect coins, expand your arsenal, avoid asteroids and defeat all enemies waves and bosses. You can survive to all enemies waves?

About

Pulse Cross

An arcade shooter designed for one-hand play, featuring fast-paced action against waves of invaders. Enjoy a minimal, offline experience with no ads or tracking, focused solely on achieving a high score.

Highlights
  • One-hand portrait-mode controls
  • Procedurally generated neon-pixel art
  • Dynamic difficulty scaling
  • Offline play
  • No ads, tracking, or accounts
  • Persistent high score tracking
Features
Read full description

Pulse Cross is a bite-sized, high-energy arcade shooter built for one-hand play. These games were designed with privacy in mind and as a firm foot down to put apps on that App Store that you buy to truly play forever without needing and network or any information leaving your device! They're written to be as minimal as possible with always less than a 10MB foot print and using as few APIs as possible. A truly minimal so you can relax! Pilot a pulse-cross fighter against waves of invaders that get faster, smarter, and meaner the longer you survive. No menus, no upgrades, no timers — just you, the swarm, and a high-score that dares you to push one wave further. FEATURES - Neon-pixel art, procedurally generated — zero external assets - Fire-button + drag-to-steer controls built for portrait-mode thumb play - Dynamic difficulty: enemies march faster and shoot more the further you go - Persistent best score with a satisfying "NEW RECORD!" moment - Chunky sound design and camera shake that sells every hit - Works offline, no ads, no accounts, no tracking Designed for quick sessions. Pick it up for 30 seconds, beat your best, put it down. Repeat forever.

Screenshots

Darkest Space4 screens
Pulse Cross3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Darkest Space at Free against Pulse Cross's $0.29. Darkest Space also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). Pulse Cross's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 44 months). On 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

Darkest Space is free to download; Pulse Cross costs $0.29 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Darkest Space ships an update every 44 months, Pulse Cross every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Darkest Space versus Pulse Cross: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDarkest SpacePulse Cross
PriceFree — better$0.29
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 44 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB0 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperRaffaele AmusoJustin Miller

In-app purchases

None

Darkest Space

No in-app purchases

None

Pulse Cross

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Darkest Space free?
Darkest Space is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pulse Cross free?
Pulse Cross costs $0.29, with no in-app purchases.
Do Darkest Space or Pulse Cross have ads?
Darkest Space shows ads; Pulse Cross does not.
Which is updated more often, Darkest Space or Pulse Cross?
Darkest Space ships an update every 44 months, and Pulse Cross every 3 days. Most recently, Darkest Space was updated on October 26, 2026 and Pulse Cross on October 18, 2026.

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