Comparison

Pawnbarian vs Packed!?

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

Head to head
About

Pawnbarian

Engage in a turn-based puzzle roguelike inspired by chess. Use a deck of chess pieces to battle monsters on a small dungeon board, strategically outmaneuvering enemies. Enjoy quick, challenging sessions with emergent tactical situations and character progression.

Highlights
  • Deck of chess pieces for combat
  • Chess mechanics for gameplay
  • Turn-based tactical situations
  • Card upgrades with treasure
  • Quick 15-30 minute runs
  • Infinite post-run Gauntlet
  • Multiple characters and dungeons
Features
Read full description

Chess-inspired puzzle roguelike. Demo - single IAP unlocks full game. The demo is ad-free. It contains a single character and dungeon. Pawnbarian is a turn-based puzzle roguelike with bite-sized, but challenging sessions. Play cards to control your hero like a chess piece on a tiny dungeon board, outmaneuver enemies with their assortment of tricky abilities, and become the mightiest warrior of the Chesslands! Features - Use a deck of chess pieces to hack and slash through hordes of monsters. - Pick up the basics instantly if you're familiar with chess, or learn in minutes if you aren't. - Carefully plan your moves to navigate challenging, emergent tactical situations. - Spend treasure to upgrade your cards with additional powers. - Blitz through quick 15-30 minute runs - or die trying. - Take on the infinite post-run Gauntlet to see how long you can survive. - Pick from 6 characters to conquer 3 dungeons, all requiring an unique approach. - Progress through Chains, a series of extra difficulty modifiers. Not Features - No permanent upgrades, and not much that needs unlocking. The progress and satisfaction come from your growing mastery of the game's elegant systems! - No complex and varied builds. The shops provide a few key decisions, but the bulk of the roguelike depth lies in how you approach the emergent combat puzzles!

About

Packed!?

Guide two characters through increasingly challenging box-pushing puzzles to escape a depot. Solve each level with minimal moves and time, utilizing unique mechanics introduced in each world. The game features simple, visual-only controls and 120 handcrafted levels.

Highlights
  • 120 challenging puzzle levels
  • Move count and time-based rating system
  • Unique mechanics per world
  • Simple, visual-only controls
  • No in-game text
Features
Read full description

Packed!? is an extremely difficult puzzle game which has you guiding two punctual little friends on their journey to escape the depot one box at a time. Each box offers a fun, increasingly challenging puzzle to solve in as few moves as possible, as you push, slide and outsmart obstacles that stand between our friends and their path to freedom. They’re great listeners and will follow your direction in unison - for better or worse… GAME FEATURES * 120 carefully crafted levels of increasingly difficult puzzles. * Rating system based on move count and elapsed time. * A unique mechanic for each world you unlock. * Simple controls. * No text. All communication is conveyed through visuals. * No ads

Screenshots

Pawnbarian4 screens
Packed!?4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Packed!? at every 9 days against Pawnbarian's every 6 weeks. Pawnbarian's advantage is review sentiment (83% vs 64%) and ratings volume (354 vs 52). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Pawnbarian sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Packed!? sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Packed!? holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pawnbarian has 354 ratings behind it against 52, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Pawnbarian's written reviews are positive against 64% of Packed!?'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pawnbarian ships an update every 6 weeks, Packed!? every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and July 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pawnbarian versus Packed!?: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPawnbarianPacked!?
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (354 ratings)4.4 (52 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.0% of reviews — better64.0% of reviews
Number of ratings354 — better52
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS11.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size116 MB358 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperJan WojteckiShortbread Games Pty Ltd

Customer experience

Pawnbarian

All ratings354 ratings
Positive81.4%
Neutral3.7%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews153 reviews
Positive83.0%
Neutral3.3%
Negative13.7%

Packed!?

All ratings53 ratings
Positive84.9%
Neutral3.8%
Negative11.3%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive64.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative24.0%

Bugs and requests

Pawnbarian

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Unexpected attacks during player turns
  • Glitches with Apple Pencil input

Requested features

5 requests
  • More levels and dungeons
  • Additional character classes
  • Difficulty settings
  • Achievements/progression system
  • Controller support

Packed!?

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pawnbarian

One-time1
  • Full Game$4.99
6 purchases

Packed!?

One-time6
  • 5 Hints$0.99
  • 15 Hints$1.99
  • Full Game$2.99
Show 3 more
  • 30 Hints$2.99
  • 50 Hints$2.99
  • 100 Hints$3.99

Questions

Is Pawnbarian free?
Pawnbarian is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Packed!? free?
Packed!? is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pawnbarian or Packed!??
Packed!? is rated higher. Pawnbarian averages 4.2 out of 5 from 354 ratings, while Packed!? averages 4.4 from 52 ratings.
Do Pawnbarian or Packed!? have ads?
Neither Pawnbarian nor Packed!? shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pawnbarian or Packed!??
Pawnbarian ships an update every 6 weeks, and Packed!? every 9 days. Most recently, Pawnbarian was updated on September 8, 2026 and Packed!? on July 6, 2026.

Other comparisons