SOULVARS vs DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SOULVARS
Embark on a deck-building JRPG adventure where souls are converted into data to combat deformities. Master strategic card-based combat with dynamic pixel animations and deep customization. Explore dungeons, collect enchanted items, and uncover a rich story.
- Deck-building combat system
- Dynamic pixel animations
- Rich customization
- Dungeon exploration
- Random enchanted item collection
- Strategic soul bit combinations
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Deck-Building JRPG "SOULVARS" is now available! 15-20 hours of playtime (+50h to go deeper) Dynamic pixel animation and battles and a rich customization system No In-App Purchases. While having a deep strategic sense, the vertically held smartphone controls allow for simple and exhilarating battles, training, dungeon exploration, and collection of random enchanted items. ▼ Story A world line in which even the fictitious concept of the soul can be converted into data. In return, people's lives are threatened by the sudden appearance of deformities. The protagonists use the Soul Driver, a device that converts souls into data. They are responsible for the elimination of the deformities that threaten people, and work in a certain town... ▼System Overview Number of save slots: 3 (Saved in device and manual save) Estimated scenario completion time: 14 to 20 hours 50 to 100+ hours of post-clearance challenge Features Soul bits (handbills), which are the data of the soul power that resides in gear (equipment), Players can combine them in battle to make special attacks and combos in a successive manner. The characters are characterized by their action with dots that move around. ▼Gear and Soul Bits Soul bits (hand cards) can be drawn from gear (equipment) and used as actions during battle. The combination of main weapon, subweapon, armor, and accessories Strategy (deck) is determined. ▼Arts During a battle, only one soul bit can be selected on the first turn, but The number of soul bits that can be selected at one time increases depending on the opponent's weaknesses, guarding, evading, buffing, debuffing, and various other conditions. The combination of soul bits (cards in hand) selected at the same time activates a skill called Arts.
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS
Embark on an epic adventure in a block-based world to defeat the Dragonlord. Gather resources, craft items, and build anything from simple structures to entire towns to restore the realm. Engage in action-packed combat against familiar monsters and share your creations with friends.
- Explore a vast block world
- Gather and craft items
- Build structures and towns
- Battle monsters
- Specialized mobile controls
- Share creations with friends
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Explore a world made of blocks as you gather, craft, and build to defeat the evil Dragonlord! Build everywhere from anywhere in DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS, available now on mobile. Brought to you by SQUARE ENIX! ◆ TRAVEL AND EXPLORE THE VAST WORLD OF DRAGON QUEST! In this “Block-Building RPG”, YOU are the legendary builder that has the power to build! The realm of Alefgard has been plunged into darkness by the terrible and treacherous Dragonlord, the ruler of all monsters. Venture off on the epic adventure to restore Alefgard! ◆ FACE OFF AGAINST VICIOUS FOES! You will encounter Slimes, Golems, Dragons, and more. Familiar DRAGON QUEST monsters of all sizes threaten the survival of humankind! Craft weapons, build defenses, and fight the monsters to protect your base. Use your power to build and play smart when fighting against frightening enemies in action packed combat! ◆ GATHER, CRAFT AND BUILD FROM ANYWHERE! In this world made of blocks, everything you see can be materials used to create! Farm ingredients, craft various items and build your base to unite the people roaming the ruins. From buildings to entire towns, you have the freedom to make your village your very own. The power to build is in the palm of your hands! ◆ BUILD BETTER ON MOBILE WITH SPECIAL FEATURES ADDED! Place blocks by simply tapping the screen and destroy blocks and items more easily with specialized cursors. A convenient Undo Button function has also been added to allow you to restore your work! Convert your buildings in to Build Cards to share with friends and scan their buildings to have them show up in your island! ◆ NEW DLC AS IN-APP PURCHASES New DLC added in “Terra Incognita,” the land where you can freely build and play! DLC includes: • “Magic carpet”, “Boss figure pack”, “Celestial pack”, “Dot ring” • “All in one pack” (A set of the above 4) *Please be aware of duplicate purchases. "OS: iOS 13 or later iPhone 8 or later (minimum 3GB of RAM)" *Playing this game on a non-recommended device may result in unexpected errors, such as crashing due to insufficient memory. Please be aware that we may not be able to provide support for non-recommended devices.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: SOULVARS at $4.99 against DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS's $27.99. SOULVARS also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS's advantage is ratings volume (164 vs 47). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
SOULVARS costs $4.99 and DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS $27.99 up front. DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. SOULVARS asks for nothing beyond the download.
SOULVARS holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 47 and 164 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of SOULVARS's written reviews are positive against 66% of DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS's.
SOULVARS ships an update every 4 weeks, DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SOULVARS | DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $27.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (47 ratings) — better | 4.5 (164 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 81.3% of reviews — better | 65.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 47 | 164 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 weeks | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #146 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 377 MB | 639 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 9+ |
| Developer | ginolabo Inc. | SQUARE ENIX |
Customer experience
SOULVARS
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS
Bugs and requests
SOULVARS
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS
Reported bugs
10 issues- Controller support partially implemented (left stick only)
- Game freezes/crashes
- Challenges not reflecting completion
- Camera zooms unexpectedly in caves
- NPCs behaving erratically (walking on walls, jumping)
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- Quest progression bugs (e.g., Divine Draught quest)
- Save file issues (no cloud sync, iPad/iPhone sync issues)
- Frame rate issues/stuttering
- Game not progressing after defeating certain bosses (Helcondor)
- Developer support link broken
Requested features
10 requests- Add controller support
- Add cloud save sync
- Allow UI customization (button placement, size)
- Add option for free-form joystick
- Improve optimization for better battery life and performance
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- Add more advanced graphics settings
- Allow iPad app to run on macOS
- Add map markers for quests
- Request for Dragon Quest Builders 2 port
- Request for Dragon Quest Builders 3
In-app purchases
SOULVARS
No in-app purchases
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS
- New Content! Magic Carpet$2.99
- New Content! Astronomy Set$2.99
- Boss Monster Model Set$2.99
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- New Content! Pixel Ring$2.99
- All-in-One Pack$5.99
Questions
Is SOULVARS free?
Is DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS free?
Which has better reviews, SOULVARS or DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS?
Do SOULVARS or DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS have ads?
Which is updated more often, SOULVARS or DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS?
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