# Ancient Games vs Shut

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shut at none against Ancient Games's 11. Shut also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 3 weeks). Ancient Games's advantage is ratings volume (287 vs 1). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Ancient Games sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Shut asks for nothing beyond the download.

Shut holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ancient Games has 287 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Ancient Games's written reviews are positive against 100% of Shut's.

Ancient Games ships an update every 3 weeks, Shut every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Ancient Games | Shut |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.6 (287 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ancient-games/id1589948658/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shut-the-box/id6677000074/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **287** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 78.3% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | **Every 2 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 212 MB | 199 MB |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | **11.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sullivan Bousiniere](https://appshunter.io/developer/1455653920) | [Carson Hellman](https://appshunter.io/developer/1767905995) |

## What reviewers say

### Ancient Games

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ancient-games/id1589948658)

Explore and play a collection of ancient board games brought back to life with modern app design. Enjoy offline and online play, collect customizable game pieces, and tackle fun challenges. Save progress across all games with cloud saves.

**Highlights:** Play multiple ancient games in one app, Offline and online multiplayer, AI, friend, and random player matches, Collectible game pieces and boards, Challenges with rule variants, Free cloud saves across games

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AG+ | $3.99 | per month |
| Ancient Artifact | $0.99 | one-time |
| Purchase Game Edition | $1.99 | one-time |
| Dawn of Civilization DLC | $2.99 | one-time |
| Purchase Game Edition | $2.99 | one-time |
| Skeleton Key | $2.99 | one-time |
| Ur Divine Edition | $3.99 | one-time |
| Purchase Game Edition | $3.99 | one-time |
| Purchase Game Edition | $10.99 | one-time |
| Royal Pass | $12.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🎮 High-quality ancient board games collection
- 🎨 Beautiful graphics and visual design
- 🎵 Appropriate relaxing music and atmosphere
- 👍 Easy to learn gameplay with depth
- 🎯 Multiple difficulty levels and game modes

**What reviewers complain about**

- 📺 Excessive and intrusive advertisements
- 💳 Subscription model for content access
- 🎲 Dice rolls appear non-random or rigged
- 🐛 Frequent freezing and crashing issues
- 🔊 Ads play with sound even when muted

**Reported bugs**

- Game freezes after match completion
- Screen goes dark and becomes unresponsive post-game
- Ad removal purchase only lasts one game
- Paid ad removal still shows advertisements
- Game continues playing after player wins

**Requested features**

- Two-player local multiplayer mode
- Friends list and challenge system
- Leaderboards and ranking system
- Win/loss statistics and game history tracking
- Ability to play offline while waiting for online opponents


### Shut

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shut-the-box/id6677000074)

Enjoy the classic dice game on your mobile device. Test your luck and strategy with this portable version of a popular pub game. Perfect for quick play sessions anywhere.

**Highlights:** Portable dice game, Classic pub game experience, Quick play sessions, Dice rolling simulation

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Ancient Games free?

Ancient Games is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Shut free?

Shut is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Ancient Games or Shut?

Shut is rated higher. Ancient Games averages 4.6 out of 5 from 287 ratings, while Shut averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Ancient Games or Shut have ads?

Ancient Games shows ads; Shut does not.

### Which is updated more often, Ancient Games or Shut?

Ancient Games ships an update every 3 weeks, and Shut every 2 days. Most recently, Ancient Games was updated on October 24, 2026 and Shut on October 14, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*