Comparison

Calamus vs Elderbrain Soundscapes

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

Head to head
About

Calamus

Create expansive battlemaps with hand-drawn tiles for tabletop RPGs. Design custom character tokens and host real-time games where players can move their own pieces. Engage in robust chat, sending messages as yourself or any in-game token.

Highlights
  • Create large battlemaps
  • Dozens of hand-drawn tiles
  • Custom PC, NPC, FOE tokens
  • Host real-time games
  • Player character movement
  • Robust in-game chat
  • Send messages as tokens
Features
Read full description

The Calamus is a companion for tabletop roleplaying games, such as Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder, that allows you to create huge battlemaps utilizing dozens of hand-drawn tiles, create custom PC, NPC, and FOE tokens, and host games in which players can add and move their own characters in real-time. It also features a robust chat, in which you can send messages as yourself or any token you have in play, publicly or privately. You can find our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy here: http://trapstreetstudios.com/theCalamus/tos/

About

Elderbrain Soundscapes

Enhance tabletop role-playing games with dynamic, location-specific background ambiences. Each soundscape features a unique blend of sounds that change randomly, creating an immersive atmosphere for players. New soundscapes are continuously released.

Highlights
  • Dynamic, location-specific soundscapes
  • Infinitely unique ambient backgrounds
  • Timed events for weather and time changes
  • 5.1 surround sound
  • Continuous updates with new soundscapes
  • Compatible with any TTRPG setting
Features
Read full description

Boost your table-top role-playing experience with wonderful background ambiences to make your gaming sessions more immersive. These ambiences make your players feel right where you want them to be. Each soundscape is composed of several dozen beautiful, location-specific sounds, which blend to create a unique, constantly changing atmospheric background. These sound play at random times, volume, length, distance, reverb, and velocity to create an infinitely unique ambience with no repetitions. Timed events control the flow of each soundscape to bring changes in weather, day/night time and such conditions to life and to make these ambiences even more colourful. All of our soundscapes are 5.1 surround sounds. We create soundscapes specifically for our adventure modules available at https://elderbrain.com but they can be used in any setting. New updates with more free soundscapes will be continuously released for our past and future adventure modules. Please support us by becoming one our highly esteemed patrons who help us to expand the selection of soundscapes and the creation of new features for the app. https://patreon.com/elderbraincom

Screenshots

Calamus4 screens
Elderbrain Soundscapes1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Elderbrain Soundscapes at 4.5 against Calamus's 3.3. Elderbrain Soundscapes also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 33%) and in-app purchases (none vs 15). Calamus's advantage is ratings volume (83 vs 14) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Calamus sells 15 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Elderbrain Soundscapes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Elderbrain Soundscapes holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calamus has 83 ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Calamus's written reviews are positive against 71% of Elderbrain Soundscapes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calamus ships an update monthly, Elderbrain Soundscapes every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Calamus versus Elderbrain Soundscapes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalamusElderbrain Soundscapes
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (83 ratings)4.5 (14 ratings) — better
Positive reviews32.5% of reviews71.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings83 — better14
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 6 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB278 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTrapStreet StudiosElderbrain Inc.

Customer experience

Calamus

All ratings83 ratings
Positive51.8%
Neutral16.9%
Negative31.3%
Written reviews40 reviews
Positive32.5%
Neutral17.5%
Negative50.0%

Elderbrain Soundscapes

All ratings14 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral7.1%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative14.3%

Bugs and requests

Calamus

Reported bugs

40 issues
  • No undo option
  • Walls erase when removing objects
  • Rune password login issues
  • Water turns light blue when saving/cropping
  • App repeatedly asks for password
Show 35 more
  • Pop-ups are disruptive
  • Download issues
  • Support issues
  • Map saving issues
  • App crashes
  • Broken text formatting
  • Tabs do not work
  • Program freezes while placing tiles
  • Login issues after canceling subscription
  • Pinch and pull zoom doesn't work
  • Erase button in wrong menu
  • Forced password system
  • Locked out if away from app for too long
  • Not designed for mobile user experience
  • Maps don't save properly
  • App never loads
  • Never got to do much of anything
  • Non-functional, never makes it past loading screen
  • Monetization model kills it
  • Forced subscription after idle period
  • Limited variety of items
  • Cannot download saved maps
  • App asks for subscription after payment
  • Free app with subscription service
  • Too complicated login process
  • Freezes when adding players
  • Rune password is confusing
  • Subscription is a big problem
  • Keeps locking, requires frequent passcode entry
  • Slowdown on larger maps
  • Text is incredibly small
  • Menu screen swipe function doesn't work
  • Cannot figure out rune password
  • Slow learning curve
  • No simple tutorial

Requested features

18 requests
  • Add undo option
  • Improve Apple Pencil support
  • Add more assets like columns
  • Add desert themed items
  • Add steering wheel and crows nest
Show 13 more
  • Add fungi for underdark maps
  • Allow watching ads instead of subscription
  • Fix water color issue when saving/cropping
  • Improve login process
  • Add more variety of items
  • Allow downloading saved maps to device
  • Implement a one-time purchase option
  • Add more content
  • Change rune password system to typed password or tap option
  • Add more VTT features
  • Provide a simple tutorial
  • Allow maps to be exported as PDFs
  • Allow maps to be printed

Elderbrain Soundscapes

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

15 purchases

Calamus

Subscriptions5
  • Calamus Player Only$0.991 Month
  • Full Version - Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Calamus Monthly Subscription$3.491 Month
Show 2 more
  • Full Version - Yearly$29.991 Year
  • Calamus Yearly Subscription$39.991 Year
One-time10
  • More Tokens Slots (12)$0.99
  • More Tokens Slots (30)$0.99
  • More Tokens Slots (24)$0.99
Show 7 more
  • All Epic Token Icons$0.99
  • 2x2 Token Ring$0.99
  • More Map Slots (6)$0.99
  • More Tokens Slots (6)$0.99
  • Full Roommaker$1.99
  • All Epic Token Rings$2.99
  • Player Enhanced Version$2.99
None

Elderbrain Soundscapes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Calamus free?
Calamus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Elderbrain Soundscapes free?
Elderbrain Soundscapes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Calamus or Elderbrain Soundscapes?
Elderbrain Soundscapes is rated higher. Calamus averages 3.3 out of 5 from 83 ratings, while Elderbrain Soundscapes averages 4.5 from 14 ratings.
Do Calamus or Elderbrain Soundscapes have ads?
Neither Calamus nor Elderbrain Soundscapes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Calamus or Elderbrain Soundscapes?
Calamus ships an update monthly, and Elderbrain Soundscapes every 6 weeks. Most recently, Calamus was updated on October 24, 2026 and Elderbrain Soundscapes on October 24, 2026.

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