Xero Hour vs Elderand
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Xero Hour
Embark on a retro sci-fi adventure as Dr. Xero, stranded on an alien planet. Tap to navigate, collect items, and power-ups to survive hostile environments and fend off 8-bit enemies. Rebuild your ship to escape this pixelated world.
- Pixelated retro graphics
- Chiptune progressive metal soundtrack
- Tap-to-avoid gameplay
- Item collection and power-ups
- Ship rebuilding mechanics
- Defend against enemy waves
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Dr. Xero finds himself stranded, pixelated, and in need of assistance! Tap as he runs to avoid enemies, find new paths, and collect items and new power ups to help escape this hostile alien world. Between areas you will find that Dr. Xero needs your help (well, the help of your finger) to charge his ION BOMBS and defend his position against waves of terrifyingly 8Bit enemies. Later on in the game you may be able to use what you've collected to rebuild Dr. Xero's ship - but will you find the shipyard, and will you have enough of the three different mineral types needed for ship-synthesis?? All of this is accompanied by amazing, and nostalgic, chiptune progressive metal songs!!
Elderand
Embark on a brutal, skill-based action platformer in a Lovecraftian world. Wield diverse weapons and customize your character with RPG elements to battle terrifying creatures and explore a dark, hand-drawn pixel environment. Collect loot to upgrade your arsenal and uncover the land's secrets.
- Skill-based combat
- Metroidvania exploration
- Lovecraftian horror themes
- RPG character customization
- Diverse weapon arsenal
- Hand-drawn pixel art
- Loot collection and crafting
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Become the hero of an epic quest in Elderand, a metroidvania that will test your will and skill. Heads will literally roll in this gruesome, retro-inspired action platformer, where only the strong will survive in brutal, skill-based combat against terrifying creatures. Through the darkness and madness, promised glory awaits. Wield a variety of killing instruments and abilities to test your metal against towering, bone-chilling bosses. Explore a twisted Lovecraftian world shrouded in darkness and madness. RPG elements allow you to customize your battle experience to your liking, from your character’s appearance to skills, stats, and weapons. Slay or be slain as you collect glory and treasure in this nightmarish 2D world. Glory and riches await those who can spill the required blood and guts to collect it. KEY FEATURES: •Wield an arsenal of killing devices, including whips, swords, daggers, axes, bows, and more. From a magical staff that shoots bursts of energy to a giant sword, different weapons have different stats and capabilities, so find the ones that you enjoy battling beasts with the most! •Satisfying Metroidvania-style exploration meets terrifying Lovecraftian creatures in this detailed hand-drawn pixel world with glorious gothic aesthetics and handcrafted level design. •RPG elements let you customize your experience to best suit your play style, from your character’s appearance to their skills, stats, and weapons. Collect loot from exploration and fallen enemies and then use it to upgrade your weapons via crafting. •Travel to the many corners of this perilous land, such as an inviting village with merchants, a forest, a temple prison, floating islands, a cursed Cathedral, and the hellscape that is Elderand itself. •More than 60 different enemy types and around a dozen bosses for your slaying pleasure. •Collect lost letters and other correspondence from the poor souls who came before you to learn more about the darkness taking hold of this grim land.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Xero Hour at Free against Elderand's $6.99. Xero Hour also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and review sentiment (90% vs 74%). Elderand's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and ads (none vs shown). On monetization model, device support and iOS requirement 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
Xero Hour is free to download; Elderand costs $6.99 up front. Xero Hour sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Elderand asks for nothing beyond the download.
Xero Hour holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Elderand has 36 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of Xero Hour's written reviews are positive against 74% of Elderand's.
Xero Hour ships an update fortnightly, Elderand weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Xero Hour | Elderand |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $6.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.2 (36 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.0% of reviews — better | 73.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 36 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 265 MB | 818 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Bitwad Entertainment Ltd | Plug In Digital |
Customer experience
Xero Hour
Elderand
Bugs and requests
Xero Hour
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Elderand
Reported bugs
11 issues- Permanent crashes
- Character spawning underneath level
- R button for subweapon not working on Steelseries Nimbus
- Dash function not working
- Game freezing for a moment
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- Bosses getting stuck in attack animations
- Campfire menu broken (cannot select options)
- Lost save data after updates
- D-pad moves on screen and becomes unusable
- Joystick teleports to random spots
- Virtual joystick bug with attack key
Requested features
7 requests- Full controller remapping for bindings
- Multiplayer PvP 'Invasions' system
- Cloud saves (iCloud)
- Adjustable button layout and size
- Ability to track materials acquired
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- New game+ option
- Boss replayability
In-app purchases
Xero Hour
- 150 Pack of Minerals$0.99
- Ammo Reserve Tank$1.99
- Radar Triangulator$1.99
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- Remove Ads$1.99
- Jungles of Ancient K'rell DLC$2.99
- Combo Deal$4.99
Elderand
No in-app purchases









