Astrocave vs ArcadeBox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Astrocave
Pilot a lander through dangerous underground caves, collecting fuel to ascend. Test your bravery and skill to reach the exit, with procedurally generated levels and a unique soundtrack. Compete on global leaderboards and unlock achievements.
- Procedurally generated cave levels
- Fuel collection for survival
- Touch and tilt controls
- Bluetooth controller support
- Sci-Fi Industrial Obscurity soundtrack
- Custom seed level generation
- Game Center leaderboards and achievements
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Pilot your lander through the dangers of an underground cave system to reach the exit at the top. Collect fuel during your ascent to stay alive. Only 0.24% (based on App analytics) are brave enough to try and only 1 in 100 (based on leaderboard statistics) are successful. Are you brave enough to try? Can you reach the top? Simple to play! Just touch the screen to thrust and tilt device to steer. Supports bluetooth game controllers too! Includes an incredible Sci-Fi Industrial Obscurity music soundtrack! Uses a unique seed based subtractive algorithm for generating levels. Create unique levels using custom seeds. More than 50 secret seed awards to discover! Earn free credits by guessing the secret seeds. 14 Game Center leaderboards to conquer! 25 Game Center achievements!
ArcadeBox
This application serves as a free emulator for GameBoy and GameBoy Color games. It supports iCade controllers and offers customizable game modes. Users can legally add their own purchased ROMs via file sharing.
- GameBoy and GameBoy Color emulation
- iCade controller compatibility
- 80s and 90s arcade style design
- Color or green game mode
- Supports user-added ROMs
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"ArcadeBox" is a free emulator for GameBoy, GameBoyColor. The emulator is free, what you pay (at the price indicated in the App Store for downloading the app ArcadeBox) is the ROM of the ArkAttack game (COLOR version, copyright Gianluca Natalini 2024) already pre-installed inside the ArcadeBox emulator. To add new ROMs: ArcadeBox allows the installation (using file sharing or the FILE application - copy/paste or share with or AirDrop, see screenshots of the app) of additional original ROMs for GameBoy, purchased by You in other stores. Please remember that downloading ROMs from internet is ILLEGAL; you can therefore only install the ROMs that you have regularly purchased and for which you have the license to use. COMPLIANCE with the LAWS / COPYRIGHT for the ROMs is your responsibility. Features: - compatible with iCade - 80s and 90s arcade style console/controller - color or green game mode (green phosphors, it depends on the installed ROM) LICENSE for ArcadeBox: - ArcadeBox is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 License. LICENSE for ArkAttack ROM: - ArkAttack ROM is NOT FREE (copyright: Gianluca Natalini 2024).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Astrocave at Free against ArcadeBox's $0.99. Astrocave also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 12 months). ArcadeBox's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ratings volume, 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
Astrocave is free to download; ArcadeBox costs $0.99 up front. Astrocave sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ArcadeBox asks for nothing beyond the download.
Astrocave holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 4 respectively.
Astrocave ships an update every 2 days, ArcadeBox every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Astrocave | ArcadeBox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better | 4.5 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 12 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 248 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Les Bird | Gianluca Natalini |
Customer experience
Astrocave
ArcadeBox
In-app purchases
Astrocave
- 5,000 CREDITS...$0.99
ArcadeBox
No in-app purchases









