Comparison

Arcadium vs Stellar Mercenaries

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

Head to head
About

Arcadium

Engage in intense pixel-art space combat with a variety of customizable spaceships and powerful skills. Battle unique enemies and bosses, collect achievements, and enhance your score with hardcore options. Join a community for feedback and discussion.

Highlights
  • Unique and colorful enemies
  • Dozens of unique talents
  • Multiple spaceships with unique stats
  • Awesome skills for combat
  • Rewarded achievements
  • Hardcore options for score boosting
Features
Read full description

The arcadium invaders feel as strong and colorful as never before! Join the fight for survival in this fantastic pixel-art shooter game! Pick your spaceship and get ready for an intense and exciting battle! Features : * Plenty of unique and colorful enemies, including powerful bosses and fun special waves! * Dozens of different talents to build a unique fight! * Many spaceships to choose from, each with unique stats and abilities! * Awesome skills to aid you in the fight against the aliens! * Tons of rewarded achievements, including hidden ones! * Hardcore options to boost your score and rewards! * And many more features that you will find out in game! Have suggestions, feedback or just want to chat? Feel free to join me and many other fans: Email: lucianobercinidev@gmail.com Discord: https://discord.gg/73w3kFA Twitter: https://x.com/lucianobercini

About

Stellar Mercenaries

Engage in offline, vertical scrolling arcade action with this sci-fi RPG. Upgrade your ship, weapons, and abilities to battle rival mercenaries and conquer the solar system. Enjoy endless procedurally generated missions with diverse objectives and challenges.

Highlights
  • Vertical scrolling arcade shooter
  • Offline capable gameplay
  • Upgradable ships and weapons
  • Customizable loadouts
  • Procedurally generated missions
  • Rival mercenary system
Features
Read full description

Ready to vanquish your enemies and change the solar system forever from anywhere? Stellar Mercs is a vertical scrolling, offline capable, action arcade shooter with upgradable ships, weapons, and special abilities. Customize your loadouts for each mission depending on the environments and enemies you'll face! Each mission will reward you with unlocks and cash to continue building your arsenal. You're not the only mercenary out there - the more successful and accomplished you become, the more attention you'll attract. Enemy mercenaries can become persistent arch-rivals, leveling up along side you. Defeating them will net you great rewards, but if you die at their hands, they'll grow even further in power. The fun is never-ending! Fly missions through endless procedurally generated missions with a variety of environments, objectives, hazards, enemies, and rewards. Hijack cargo from speeding space trains, break into heavily guarded research and development space stations to acquire new prototype ships to fly, or defeat mighty leviathan capital ships in your quest to become the wealthiest, most powerful mercenary in the system! Stellar Mercs operates as a single handed action arcade game, so you can play comfortably on the go. SM is offline capable, so even without signal you can keep gaming and conquering the solar system! Configure your spacecraft's loadout and autoshoot your way to victory - focus on maneuvering through hazards and waves of enemies while you employ special abilities for maximum carnage!

Screenshots

Arcadium4 screens
Stellar Mercenaries4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Stellar Mercenaries at none against Arcadium's shown. Stellar Mercenaries also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (38 vs 12). Arcadium's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 86%). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Arcadium sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Stellar Mercenaries sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Arcadium against 4.8 for Stellar Mercenaries. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 12 and 38 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Arcadium's written reviews are positive against 86% of Stellar Mercenaries's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Arcadium ships an update every 4 months, Stellar Mercenaries every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Arcadium versus Stellar Mercenaries: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArcadiumStellar Mercenaries
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (12 ratings) — better4.8 (38 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better85.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1238 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size99 MB198 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperLuciano BerciniQuest Builders LLC

Customer experience

Arcadium

All ratings12 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Stellar Mercenaries

All ratings34 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral4.8%
Negative9.5%

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Arcadium

One-time11
  • Bits x5000$0.99
  • Gemstones x500$0.99
  • Bits x25000$2.99
Show 8 more
  • Exspiravit$2.99
  • Gemstones x2500$3.99
  • Parvus Corydon$3.99
  • Ad-Free Revival$3.99
  • Aurum Aliena$4.99
  • Gemstones x5000$6.99
  • Bits x100000$7.99
  • Super Bundle$13.99
9 purchases

Stellar Mercenaries

One-time9
  • Currency - Small Pack$1.99
  • Starter Pack - Basic$1.99
  • Gem Pack - Small$2.99
Show 6 more
  • Currency - Medium Pack$3.99
  • Stater Pack - Advanced$5.99
  • Gem Pack - Medium$7.99
  • Currency - Large Pack$7.99
  • Gem Pack - Large$15.99
  • Starter Pack - Legendary$15.99

Questions

Is Arcadium free?
Arcadium is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Stellar Mercenaries free?
Stellar Mercenaries is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Arcadium or Stellar Mercenaries?
Arcadium is rated higher. Arcadium averages 4.8 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while Stellar Mercenaries averages 4.8 from 38 ratings.
Do Arcadium or Stellar Mercenaries have ads?
Arcadium shows ads; Stellar Mercenaries does not.
Which is updated more often, Arcadium or Stellar Mercenaries?
Arcadium ships an update every 4 months, and Stellar Mercenaries every 3 weeks. Most recently, Arcadium was updated on October 23, 2026 and Stellar Mercenaries on October 24, 2026.

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