The Captain is Dead vs Caverna
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Captain is Dead
Command your crew to repair ship systems and fend off aliens in this turn-based survival strategy game. Leverage unique crew talents and ship systems to escape imminent destruction in deep space.
- Turn-based survival strategy
- Command unique crew members
- Repair critical ship systems
- Defend against hostile aliens
- Leverage ship systems
- Escape to Hyperspace
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It’s the last 10 minutes of your favorite sci-fi TV show… except that this time things have gone seriously wrong and The Captain Is Dead! Based on the frantic and fun board game, this turn-based, survival/strategy puts YOU in the Captain's chair... You must co-ordinate the crew to repair critical systems and fend off hostile aliens, or you'll share the captain’s fate. From the Chief Engineer, Weapons Officer, and visiting Admiral, all the way down to the Ensign and the ship’s Janitor, you must combine your unique talents to avoid utter annihilation in the cold depths of space! YOU HAVE THE CONN! Step into the Captain's chair and command the crew! Each team member has a very particular set of skills that you'll need to leverage to the full if you want to survive, including... ADMIRAL - A master of plans and evasion. CYBORG - Immune to the mysterious forces of deep space. CREWMAN - Gets killed very easily... good thing there is an infinite supply! COUNSELOR - Can manipulate skills for the best chance of success. ENSIGN - A fast learner, and even faster runner. CHIEF ENGINEER - Can fix the ship real quick. SOLDIER - An expert at taking out aliens. ...with more on the way! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE! Defend the ship against an unknown alien nemesis that will do everything they can to blast you to atoms! Fortunately you have state-of-the-art systems to help you out... BRIDGE - Scan for threats, repair shields and communicate with your crew. WAR ROOM - The Captain planned ahead, and left emergency dossiers to help you out. ARMORY - Destroy alien ships with torpedoes, and activate auto-turrets to repel boarders. CPU CORE - Power-up your crew with skills. CARGO HOLD - Bust open the cargo pods to grab lasers, scanners, and other helpful gear. INFIRMARY - He's dead, Jim! Oh wait... no... it's just a flesh wound. That can be fixed here. SCIENCE LAB - Upgrade the ship, and research spooky, sub-space anomalies. ENGINEERING - Fix the Jump Core to get the heck outta there! JUMP TO HYPERSPACE! If you can stay cool, repel the aliens, protect the crew, and keep the systems operational long enough to repair the Jump Core, then you can activate the engines and escape to Hyperspace! Or is it Warp Speed? I can never remember...
Caverna
Lead a dwarf tribe to expand their cavern home and cultivate the surrounding forest. Dig deeper for resources, furnish rooms to grow your tribe, and forge weapons for adventures. Cultivate fields, breed animals, and increase your wealth to become the strongest tribe leader.
- Dwarf tribe management
- Cavern expansion and furnishing
- Resource cultivation and mining
- Animal breeding and farming
- Weapon forging and adventures
- Worker action system
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Caverna by Uwe Rosenberg makes you the head of a dwarf tribe, living in a small cavern. You cultivate the forest in front of your cavern and dig deeper into the mountain throughout the game. By furnishing rooms in your caverns you make space to grow your tribe and and create new goods from your resources. Deeper into the mountain you will find fountains as well as ore and gem mines. It's on you to decide how much ore and gems you want to mine, giving you the opportunity to forge weapons and go on adventures; a new way to do things in the game instead of using actions with your workers. Outside your cavern you can clear the forest, cultivate fields, fence pastures and grow crops or breed animals. All this in order to increase your wealth and become the strongest and best tribe leader of them all!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Caverna at every 6 days against The Captain is Dead's every 2 months. The Captain is Dead's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and chart position (#200 vs unranked). On review sentiment, ads, 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
The Captain is Dead costs $9.99 and Caverna $11.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
The Captain is Dead holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Captain is Dead has 63 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of The Captain is Dead's written reviews are positive against 61% of Caverna's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
The Captain is Dead ships an update every 2 months, Caverna every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Captain is Dead | Caverna |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 — better | $11.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (63 ratings) — better | 4.1 (12 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 55.6% of reviews | 61.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 63 — better | 12 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #200 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 264 MB | 450 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thunderbox Entertainment Ltd. | DIGIDICED |
Customer experience
The Captain is Dead
Caverna
In-app purchases
The Captain is Dead
No in-app purchases
Caverna
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is The Captain is Dead free?
Is Caverna free?
Which has better reviews, The Captain is Dead or Caverna?
Do The Captain is Dead or Caverna have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Captain is Dead or Caverna?
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