Comparison

SOULVARS vs DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Deck-building combat system
  • Dynamic pixel animations
  • Rich customization
  • Dungeon exploration
  • Random enchanted item collection
  • Strategic soul bit combinations
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Explore a vast block world
  • Gather and craft items
  • Build structures and towns
  • Battle monsters
  • Specialized mobile controls
  • Share creations with friends
Read full description

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

SOULVARS4 screens
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
SOULVARS versus DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSOULVARSDRAGON QUEST BUILDERS
Price$4.99 — better$27.99
Rating4.8 (47 ratings) — better4.5 (164 ratings)
Positive reviews81.3% of reviews — better65.7% of reviews
Number of ratings47164 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#146 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size377 MB639 MB
Age rating9+9+
Developerginolabo Inc.SQUARE ENIX

Customer experience

SOULVARS

All ratings46 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral2.2%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive81.3%
Neutral13.8%
Negative5.0%

DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS

All ratings164 ratings
Positive84.8%
Neutral6.7%
Negative8.5%
Written reviews105 reviews
Positive65.7%
Neutral16.2%
Negative18.1%

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)
Show 5 more
  • 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
Show 5 more
  • 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

None

SOULVARS

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS

One-time5
  • New Content! Magic Carpet$2.99
  • New Content! Astronomy Set$2.99
  • Boss Monster Model Set$2.99
Show 2 more
  • New Content! Pixel Ring$2.99
  • All-in-One Pack$5.99

Questions

Is SOULVARS free?
SOULVARS costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS free?
DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS costs $27.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SOULVARS or DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS?
SOULVARS is rated higher. SOULVARS averages 4.8 out of 5 from 47 ratings, while DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS averages 4.5 from 164 ratings.
Do SOULVARS or DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS have ads?
Neither SOULVARS nor DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SOULVARS or DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS?
SOULVARS ships an update every 4 weeks, and DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS fortnightly. Most recently, SOULVARS was updated on October 30, 2026 and DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS on October 31, 2026.

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