Cavern Crawl vs Astro Defender
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Cavern Crawl
Pilot a spaceship through a treacherous cavern, dodging obstacles and enemies. Collect orbs for points and fuel, and use rockets to defeat foes. Strategize your collection to maximize your score and survive the descent.
- Spaceship flight controls
- Obstacle and enemy avoidance
- Rocket shooting mechanics
- Orb collection for points
- Fuel management system
- Invincibility power-up
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Welcome to Cavern Crawl! Fly a spaceship through a cavern! Avoid obstacles! Avoid enemies! Shoot at the enemies! Collect orbs to gain points! Try to get the high score! Instructions: The ship floats down. Pressing on the screen will make the ship fly up. Your ship will also drain gas, so make sure to fuel up! Pressing the red shoot button will shoot a rocket. You can try to avoid enemies, or shoot at them, but be careful, the rockets will also destroy the orbs. You don't want to shoot the red or yellow ones since they will give you more gas. Collect red orbs to gain a point, but watch out for the purple orbs, they will subtract a point. If you get a yellow orb, you will get 10 points. Red and yellow orbs will also replenish your gas supply. Shooting the enemies will also give you a point. If you collect the orange coin, you will become invincible from enemies for 10 seconds.
Astro Defender
Engage in classic arcade-style space combat with a 150-level campaign. Collect items, upgrade your ship and weapons, and recruit warriors to fight alien waves and epic bosses. Experience fast-paced action with responsive touch controls.
- 150-level campaign mode
- Ship and weapon upgrades
- Recruit space warriors
- Collect in-game items
- Epic boss fights
- Responsive touch controls
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Astro Defender – Alien Shooter is an adventurous iOS space shooter built for players who love classic arcade action, striking sci-fi visuals, powerful ship upgrades, and a 150-level campaign that always gives you one more mission to complete. Fight alien waves, collect battle items, upgrade your ships and weapons, recruit space warriors, complete missions, and push deeper through a handcrafted Campaign Mode. COLLECT, UPGRADE, DOMINATE Build your fleet with powerful ships and weapon systems. Upgrade your firepower, strengthen your combat setup, and prepare for tougher missions across the galaxy. 150 HANDCRAFTED LEVELS Progress through a full Campaign designed around escalating challenge, enemy variety, boss encounters, and rewarding milestones. SPACE WARRIORS & PLAYER PROGRESSION Recruit space warriors, amplify your stats, climb player ranks, complete quests and missions, and keep pushing toward your next upgrade. ITEMS, BONUSES & BATTLE POWER Collect items during combat to boost your ship, amplify your abilities, and turn overwhelming alien swarms into explosive victories. EPIC BOSS FIGHTS Face massive alien threats with deadly attack patterns. Dodge, counterattack, and unleash your strongest firepower at the perfect moment. A GALAXY WORTH DEFENDING From rapid enemy waves to high-intensity boss battles, Astro Defender – Alien Shooter delivers a modern arcade shooter built around skill, upgrades, missions, and replayable progression. Download Astro Defender – Alien Shooter and begin your campaign to defend the galaxy.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Cavern Crawl at 5.0 against Astro Defender's 4.0. Cavern Crawl also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 21) and ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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. Astro Defender sells 21 one-off in-app purchases. Cavern Crawl asks for nothing beyond the download.
Cavern Crawl holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 6 respectively.
Cavern Crawl ships an update every 2 days, Astro Defender every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Cavern Crawl | Astro Defender |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better | 4.0 (6 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 656 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Ethan Feldman | Matteus Barhaido |
Customer experience
Cavern Crawl
Astro Defender
In-app purchases
Cavern Crawl
No in-app purchases
Astro Defender
- 1x Revive Device$0.99
- Normal Chest$0.99
- 5 Star Dust$0.99
Show 18 moreShow fewer
- Small$0.99
- Star Reactor Core$1.99
- Epic Chest$1.99
- Legendary Chest$4.99
- 30 Star Dust$4.99
- Craft Bundle$4.99
- Plenty$4.99
- 70 Star Dust$9.99
- Bag$9.99
- Onyx Bundle$9.99
- Chaos Bundle$9.99
- 200 Star Dust$24.99
- Box$24.99
- Elite Bundle$39.99
- Unlock Annihilator Ship$49.99
- 500 Star Dust$49.99
- Boxes$69.99
- Cargo$139.99
Questions
Is Cavern Crawl free?
Is Astro Defender free?
Which has better reviews, Cavern Crawl or Astro Defender?
Do Cavern Crawl or Astro Defender have ads?
Which is updated more often, Cavern Crawl or Astro Defender?
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