Marginalia Hero vs Janken Samurai
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Marginalia Hero
Embark on a unique medieval RPG adventure fighting creatures inspired by centuries-old art. Collect coins to upgrade weapons, shields, and companions. Experience challenging gameplay across 100 levels with a distinctive visual style and atmospheric music.
- Unique medieval art style graphics
- Challenging and addictive gameplay
- 100+ items for customization
- 100 levels with unique creatures
- Endless tournament mode
- One-finger controls
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Feel the real medieval weirdness! You are about to fight creatures and monsters, which were painted by real(!) medieval artists more than 5 centuries ago. Collect coins and upgrade your equipment! Lots of weapons, shields, charms and even companions! Key features: - unique looking graphics style - addictive and challenging gameplay - 100+ items for customization and upgrading - 100 levels with strange and weird creatures and monsters - endless tournament mode - one finger/tap/click controls - atmospheric music - heroic challenges and bossfight levels - 50 achievements for every taste - daily gifts and rewards
Janken Samurai
Engage in strategic combat across various ranks and a challenging Lethal mode. Explore an endless roguelike adventure with unique maps and a leveling system. Compete globally on leaderboards.
- Ranked arena progression
- Lethal combat mode
- Online leaderboard competition
- Endless roguelike quest mode
- Unique maps and leveling system
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Work your way through the ranks (1st Dan, 5th Dan, and 10th Dan) in the arena. Bring those skills to the life and death Lethal mode and compete on the online leaderboard against players from around the world. Take on Quest Mode! An endless roguelike mode with 6 unique maps and an all new leveling system. How many will fall to your blade?
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Janken Samurai at none against Marginalia Hero's 10. Marginalia Hero's advantage is ratings volume (1.8K vs 15) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Marginalia Hero sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Janken Samurai asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Marginalia Hero against 4.5 for Janken Samurai. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Marginalia Hero has 1.8K ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of Marginalia Hero's written reviews are positive against 57% of Janken Samurai's.
Marginalia Hero ships an update weekly, Janken Samurai monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Marginalia Hero | Janken Samurai |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (1.8K ratings) | 4.5 (15 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.7% of reviews — better | 57.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.8K — better | 15 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 172 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Crescent Moon Games LLC | Good Good Games LLC |
Customer experience
Marginalia Hero
Janken Samurai
Bugs and requests
Marginalia Hero
Reported bugs
4 issues- Coin generation issues
- Invisible target bugs
- Ads not working as expected
- Compatibility issues on newer devices
Requested features
4 requests- More character customization options
- Offline coin generation
- Difficulty balancing improvements
- Additional game modes or mechanics
Janken Samurai
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Marginalia Hero
- Wanderer's bag$1.99
- No ads basic$1.99
- Gervase$1.99
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- Gurgustius$1.99
- Citizen's savings$4.99
- Richard$4.99
- Duff$4.99
- No ads full$6.99
- Rogier$6.99
- Royal supplies$8.99
Janken Samurai
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Marginalia Hero free?
Is Janken Samurai free?
Which has better reviews, Marginalia Hero or Janken Samurai?
Do Marginalia Hero or Janken Samurai have ads?
Which is updated more often, Marginalia Hero or Janken Samurai?
Other comparisons
