Comparison

Shattered Pixel Dungeon vs Pixel Dungeon +

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

Head to head
About

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

Embark on a challenging roguelike dungeon crawl with six unique heroes. Explore procedurally generated levels, collect hundreds of items, and battle diverse enemies and bosses. Master unique hero mechanics and unlock powerful abilities to survive the depths.

Highlights
  • Six unique heroes with distinct playstyles
  • Procedurally generated dungeons and randomized enemies
  • Hundreds of items to collect, upgrade, and craft
  • Talent trees and subclass progression for heroes
  • Challenging bosses and optional achievements
  • Regular content updates
Read full description

Shattered Pixel Dungeon is a traditional roguelike dungeon crawler RPG that's simple to get into but hard to master! Every game is a unique challenge, with six different heroes, randomized levels and enemies, and hundreds of items to collect and use. ShatteredPD is also updated with new content roughly every three months, so there's always something new. ◀ Choose Your Hero ▶ Each of ShatteredPD's six playable heroes has their own unique mechanics and gameplay style. Cut down foes as the durable Warrior or deadly Duelist, fry your enemies as the arcane Mage or divine Cleric, or use terrain to your advantage as the stealthy Rogue or the markswoman Huntress! As you progress through the dungeon you'll earn points to spend on talents, choose a subclass, and gain powerful lategame abilities. You can turn the Duelist into a dual-wielding Champion, the Cleric into a righteous Paladin, the Huntress into a precise Sniper, or explore loads of other possibilities! ◀ Explore the Dungeon ▶ ShatteredPD's dungeon is procedurally generated with random layouts, room types, items, traps, and enemies. In each game you'll find equipment and collect or craft consumable items to power you up or help you out in a pinch. There is a huge variety to what you might see from run to run and region to region. As you progress through the dungeon you'll find equipment that can be enchanted, upgraded, and augmented as you outfit your hero. Set foes ablaze with an enchanted weapon, wade through enemies with upgraded armor, or gain powerful damage, defensive, or utility benefits from one of the many magical wands, rings, artifacts, or trinkets. ◀ Succeed or Die Trying ▶ The Dungeon is filled with enemies, traps, hazards, and bosses intent on ending your run! Battle hostile wildlife in the sewers and caves, mad thieves and guards in the prison, occult servants in the fallen dwarven city, and maybe something even worse further down... All these hazards can make the game quite tough, but don't be discouraged! You probably won't win on your first try, but there are many tricks and strategies to discover and learn on the path to getting your first win. Afterward, there are optional challenges and achivements if you want to put your skills to the test! ◀ Over A Decade in the Making ▶ Shattered Pixel Dungeon is an open source game based on the source code of Pixel Dungeon by Watabou (first released in late 2012). It started in 2014 as a project to rebalance Pixel Dungeon but has steadily grown into its own game over the last 10 years! Features Include: • 6 Heroes, each with 2 subclasses, 3 endgame abilities, and over 25 talents. • Over 300 items including equipment, consumables, and items crafted via alchemy. • 5 dungeon regions, 26 floors, over 100 room types, and trillions of possible floor layouts. • Over 60 regular enemy types, 30 traps, and 10 bosses to test your skills. • An in-game catalog to fill in, with just over 500 entries. • 9 stackable challenges and over 100 achievements for completionists. • Interface modes for large and small screens, and support for multiple input types. • Updates roughly every 3 months with new content, fixes, and improvements. • Support for many languages thanks to the game's dedicated communities.

About

Pixel Dungeon +

Embark on a challenging roguelike adventure with pixel-art graphics. Explore randomly generated dungeons, battle monsters, and collect items to find a legendary artifact. Prepare for frequent deaths in this difficult, luck-based quest.

Highlights
  • Pixel-art graphics
  • 26 randomly generated levels
  • 4 playable characters
  • Achievements
  • Rankings
Features
Read full description

Pixel Dungeon + is a traditional roguelike game with pixel-art graphics and a simple interface. Explore the depths, collect useful items, and fight fierce monsters to find the Amulet of Yendor - the ultimate artifact of this game world. This game can be very difficult and is considered to be heavily luck-based, so be warned: you will die often. :) Features: - Pixel-art graphics - 26 randomly generated levels - 4 different characters - Achievements - Rankings

Screenshots

Shattered Pixel Dungeon4 screens
Pixel Dungeon +4 screens

Verdict

The call

Shattered Pixel Dungeon and Pixel Dungeon + both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 93% of Shattered Pixel Dungeon's written reviews are positive against 0% of Pixel Dungeon +'s. Shattered Pixel Dungeon also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (4.2K vs 1). Pixel Dungeon +'s advantage is price (Free vs $4.99). On rating, update cadence, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Pixel Dungeon + is free to download; Shattered Pixel Dungeon costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Shattered Pixel Dungeon against 5.0 for Pixel Dungeon +. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shattered Pixel Dungeon has 4.2K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of Shattered Pixel Dungeon's written reviews are positive against 0% of Pixel Dungeon +'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Shattered Pixel Dungeon versus Pixel Dungeon +: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShattered Pixel DungeonPixel Dungeon +
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.9 (4.2K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews92.9% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4.2K — better1
Update frequencyFortnightlyFortnightly
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
Best chart rank#9 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size134 MB101 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperEvan DebenhamJan Neumann

Customer experience

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

All ratings4,210 ratings
Positive97.5%
Neutral0.6%
Negative1.9%
Written reviews972 reviews
Positive92.9%
Neutral1.5%
Negative5.6%

Pixel Dungeon +

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Sound effects not working on iOS
  • Occasional crashes or freezes

Requested features

3 requests
  • Permadeath optional mode
  • Ability to continue progress across devices
  • More character classes and customization options

Pixel Dungeon +

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Shattered Pixel Dungeon

No in-app purchases

None

Pixel Dungeon +

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shattered Pixel Dungeon free?
Shattered Pixel Dungeon costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pixel Dungeon + free?
Pixel Dungeon + is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shattered Pixel Dungeon or Pixel Dungeon +?
Pixel Dungeon + is rated higher. Shattered Pixel Dungeon averages 4.9 out of 5 from 4.2K ratings, while Pixel Dungeon + averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Shattered Pixel Dungeon or Pixel Dungeon + have ads?
Pixel Dungeon + shows ads; Shattered Pixel Dungeon does not.
Which is updated more often, Shattered Pixel Dungeon or Pixel Dungeon +?
Shattered Pixel Dungeon ships an update fortnightly, and Pixel Dungeon + fortnightly. Most recently, Shattered Pixel Dungeon was updated on November 3, 2026 and Pixel Dungeon + on October 24, 2026.

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